List of South Korean Academy Award winners and nominees

This list details South Koreans working in the film industry who have been nominated for, or won, Academy Awards (also known as Oscars). These include artists and filmmakers, both naturalized and diaspora, or South Korean film production companies. North Korea has never sought to participate in the awards due to tensions with the United States and South Korea.

List of South Korean Academy Award winners and nominees
Bong Joon-ho (pictured in 2017) has won three Academy Awards, the most out of all South Koreans.
Totals[a]
Wins5
Nominations22
Note
  1. ^ Certain award groups do not simply award one winner. They acknowledge several different recipients, have runners-up, and have third place. Since this is a specific recognition and is different from losing an award, runner-up mentions are considered wins in this award tally. For simplification and to avoid errors, each award in this list has been presumed to have had a prior nomination.

South Koreans had not received any nominations for almost six decades following the inauguration launch of Academy Award, until Christine Choy was nominated in 1988. In 2004, Sejong Park was the second.[1]

In the late 2010s, South Korean consecutive entrants Chang-dong's Burning and Joon-ho's Parasite shortlisted the International Feature Film category: The former became the first to make it to the final nine-film shortlist of the 91st Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film but it didn't make for the nomination.[2] The latter became the first South Korean film to earn a nomination for Best International Feature Film, but not limited to; it also was the first South Korean film to be nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Film Editing, and Best Production Design; it won all the first four including Best Picture.

Out of eleven non-English international films who have been previously nominated for, Parasite is the first non-English language film ever to win Best Picture, established in 2019/2020; this led to local recognition and global phenomenon at the start of the 2020s, boosted popularity by rising the form of a new wave of South Korean films.[3][4]

As of 2024, Bong Joon-ho, Kwak Sin-ae, Han Jin-won and Youn Yuh-jung are the only competitive winners appeared on the list; Joon-ho is currently only person to win more than once.

Production

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Best Picture

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Christina Oh was nominated for Best Picture category for producing Minari (2020).
Best Picture
Year Film Nominee Status Milestone / Notes
2019
(92nd)
Parasite Bong Joon-ho
Kwak Sin-ae
Won First East Asians to win Best Picture.
First non-English language film to win Best Picture.
2020
(93rd)
Minari Christina Oh Nominated South Korean-American.

Best Documentary Feature

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Christine Choy, who is half-Korean through her father, was nominated for Best Documentary Feature category.
Documentary Feature
Year Name Film Status Milestone / Notes
1988
(61st)
Christine Choy Who Killed Vincent Chin? Nominated Choi is American born of Korean and Chinese descent.
2018
(91st)
Su Kim Hale County This Morning, This Evening Nominated Kim is American born of Korean descent.
(Shared with RaMell Ross and Joslyn Barnes.)

Best Documentary Short Subject

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Documentary Short Subject
Year Name Film Status Milestone / Notes
2019
(92nd)
Yi Seung-Jun In the Absence Nominated
Gary Byung-Seok Kam Nominated

Best Animated Feature

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Jennifer Yuh Nelson was nominated for Best Animated Feature category.
Best Animated Feature
Year Name Film Status Milestone / Notes
2011
(84th)
Jennifer Yuh Nelson Kung Fu Panda 2 Nominated First woman of color to be nominated for Best Animated Feature category.[5]
2023
(96th)
Peter Sohn Elemental Nominated

Best Animated Short Film

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Animated Short Film
Year Name Film Status Milestone / Notes
2004
(77th)
Sejong Park Birthday Boy Nominated Australian born of Korean descent.[6]
2011
(84th)
Minkyu Lee Adam and Dog Nominated
2020
(93rd)
Erick Oh Opera Nominated American born of Korean descent.

Best International Feature Film

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NOTE: In this category is awarded to countries, not individuals. This list contains directors of nominated films, who typically accept the award on behalf of their country.

International Feature Film
Year Film Director Status Milestone / Notes
2019
(92nd)
Parasite
(Gisaengchung)
기생충
Bong Joon-ho Won First South Korean film to be nominated[7] and to win for Best Foreign Language Film.[8]

Performance

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Best Actor

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Steven Yeun (pictured in 2016) was nominated for Best Actor category.
Actor in a Leading Role
Year Name Film Role Status Milestone / Notes
2020
(93rd)
Steven Yeun Minari Jacob Yi Nominated First East Asian and Asian American actor to be nominated for Best Actor.

Best Supporting Actress

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Youn Yuh-jung (pictured in 2016) was the second Asian actress to win behind Japanese-American Miyoshi Umeki, and the first Korean to do so.
Actress in a Supporting Role
Year Name Film Role Status Milestone / Notes
2020
(93rd)
Youn Yuh-jung Minari Soon-ja Won First Korean actress to win an acting award.[9]

Craft

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South Korean-American Lee Isaac Chung was nominated for Best Director category.
 
South Korean-Canadian Celine Song was nominated for Best Original Screenplay category.
 
Karen O was nominated for Best Original Song category.

Best Director

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Director
Year Name Film Status Milestone / Notes
2019
(92nd)
Bong Joon-ho Parasite Won First Korean to be nominated and win.
Second director to win for a non-English language film.
2020
(93rd)
Lee Isaac Chung Minari Nominated South Korean-American.

Best Original Screenplay

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Original Screenplay
Year Name Film Status Milestone / Notes
2019
(92nd)
Bong Joon-ho
Han Jin-won
Parasite Won First Asian writers to win any screenwriting Academy Award.[10][11]
2020
(93rd)
Lee Isaac Chung Minari Nominated South Korean-American.
2023
(96th)
Celine Song Past Lives Nominated South Korean-Canadian.

Best Film Editing

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Film Editing
Year Name Film Status Milestone / Notes
2019
(92nd)
Yang Jin-mo Parasite Nominated

Best Production Design

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Production Design
Year Name Film Status Milestone / Notes
2019
(92nd)
Lee Ha-jun
Cho Won-woo
Parasite Nominated

Best Original Song

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Original Song
Year Name Film Song Status Milestone / Notes
2013
(86th)
Karen O Her "The Moon Song" Nominated American citizen of Polish and South Korean.

References

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  1. ^ illiterates, the art of (2024-02-02). "Exploring the Oscar-Nominated Animated Shorts of 2004, 20 years on". Medium. Retrieved 2024-09-01.
  2. ^ "Academy Unveils 2019 Oscar Shortlists". The Hollywood Reporter. 17 December 2018. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
  3. ^ Seo, Jessie Yeung,Yoonjung (2020-02-10). "'Parasite' Oscar win cements South Korea's influence abroad". CNN. Retrieved 2024-08-20.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ "Parasite: What the Oscar win means for Korean cinema". BBC News. 2020-02-11. Retrieved 2024-08-20.
  5. ^ Chang, Momo (January 25, 2016). "Q&A with Jennifer Yuh Nelson, Director of Kung Fu Panda 3". Center for Asian American Media. Retrieved September 25, 2016.
  6. ^ Baillie, Rebecca (January 26, 2005). "Can Birthday Boy make it an Aussie animation Oscar double". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on March 24, 2017. Retrieved September 20, 2016.
  7. ^ "Oscars: South Korea Selects Palme d'Or Winner 'Parasite' for International Feature Film Award". Variety. 21 August 2019. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
  8. ^ "Parasite wins best international feature film Oscar". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
  9. ^ "Oscar-nominee Youn Yuh-jung reaches career peak at age of 73". The Korea Herald. March 15, 2021. Retrieved March 15, 2021.
  10. ^ Oscars: Bong Joon Ho's 'Parasite' Wins South Korea's First Oscar|Hollywood Reporter
  11. ^ Joyce Eng (2020-02-07). "'Parasite's' Bong Joon Ho and Han Jin Won would be the first Asian writers to win an Oscar – GoldDerby". Goldderby.com. Retrieved 2020-02-16.