OTT platform works swept the major awards at the ‘Seoul Drama Awards’.
On the afternoon of the 2nd, the ‘Seoul Drama Awards 2025’ was held at KBS Hall in Yeouido. The ceremony was hosted by Jang Do-yeon and Ok Taek-yeon, and was broadcast live on the official YouTube channel of the Seoul Drama Awards.
During the ceremony, most of the awards, except for a few, went to OTT works, drawing attention. The prestigious Golden Bird Award went to Ben Stiller for the Apple TV series ‘Severance: Season 2’. This work also won the Best Writer Award, proving its artistic merit.
The Netflix UK series ‘The Time of the Boy’ achieved three awards, while Netflix’s ‘Poksak Sogassuda’ and ‘Severe Trauma Center’, along with Apple TV’s ‘Pachinko Season 2’, won two awards each.
First, ‘Severe Trauma Center’ won the Best Drama Award and the Best Actor Award (Joo Ji-hoon). Director Kim Do-yoon expressed, “I want to send a special greeting to actor Joo Ji-hoon, who has walked the same path as a friend and comrade since my first work 11 years ago,” showing affection for the lead actor. Joo Ji-hoon, sitting in the audience, responded with a heart gesture.
Joo Ji-hoon also received the Best Actor Award and, while expressing his gratitude, said, “Making a drama and turning 2D into 3D is more difficult than expected. We have to make the impossible possible. I thank all the staff and comrades who have done their part in their respective roles. The drama contains a lot of genre action, pleasure, wit, realism, and a sincere desire to save patients. We tried to blend many genres together.” He added, “I want to thank director Lee Do-yoon, who has quietly shouldered everything alone under any adverse conditions.” Director Lee Do-yoon, sitting in the audience, showed his friendship by giving a thumbs up.
Yum Hye-ran, who played the emotional mother Aesoon in ‘Poksak Sogassuda’, appeared as a presenter. When IU received the Best Actress Award, she expressed her joy, saying, “It’s better for this person to receive the award than for me.” After handing over the trophy, she hugged IU and congratulated her. The audience erupted in loud cheers.
IU said, “I want to thank the viewers who love me. I am grateful to the director, writers, and all the production staff, and it was an honor to be able to work with all the seniors, including Kim Yong-rim, Na Moon-hee, and Yum Hye-ran.”
Kim Min-ha received the honor of winning the trophy twice by accepting the award on behalf of the director for ‘Pachinko Season 2’. After winning the Best Actress Award, he said, “I have portrayed the character Sunja for about four years since 2020. Sunja has been a great inspiration to me. She is the one who helped me find light in the dark. I want to dedicate this award and honor to all the Sunjas in this world,” expressing his affection for the work.
Meanwhile, the ‘Seoul Drama Awards’ is an international drama festival that awards winners based on evaluations of dramas from around the world. This year, winners were selected from a total of 276 entries and 409 participants from 50 countries worldwide.
[Kim So-yeon, Star Today Reporter]
Below is the complete list of winners for the 20th Seoul Drama Awards 2025
▲Golden Bird Award = Ben Stiller (‘Severance: Season 2’) / Apple TV+ / USA
International Competition Category
▲Grand Prize = Netflix ‘The Time of the Boy’ / UK
Best Drama Award
▲One-Act Drama = CJ ENM ‘My Son Died’ / South Korea
▲Miniseries = Apple TV+ ‘Pachinko Season 2’ / USA
▲Feature = AY YAPIM ‘The Good & The Bad’ / Turkey
Individual Awards
▲Best Director = Hirokazu Kore-eda ‘Asura’ / Philippe Barantini ‘The Time of the Boy’
▲Best Writer = Dan Erickson ‘Severance: Season 2’
▲Best Actor = Owen Cooper ‘The Time of the Boy’
▲Best Actress = Cate Blanchett ‘Disclaimer’ / Kim Min-ha ‘Pachinko Season 2’
K-Drama Category
▲Best Drama = Netflix ‘Severe Trauma Center’ / Netflix ‘Poksak Sogassuda’
Individual Awards
▲Best Actor = Joo Ji-hoon ‘Severe Trauma Center’
▲Best Actress = IU ‘Poksak Sogassuda’
▲O.S.T. Award = Young-tak ‘Unknown Life’ KBS ‘Please Take Care of the Eagle 5 Brothers!’
International Invitation Category
▲Asia Star Award = Kim Sun-ho ‘Tyrant’, Jisoo ‘Newtopia’ / South Korea
Sakaguchi Kentaro ‘Goodbye, After That’ / Japan
Baek Woo ‘Infinite Potential’ / China
Film Rachanan Mahawan ‘Pluto’ / Thailand
Daniel Padilla ‘Incognito’ / Philippines
Anna Jobling ‘Dear Love’ / Malaysia
