List of South Korean Academy Award winners and nominees

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.
Award
Awards and nominations
Award	Wins
Totals
Wins	5
Nominations	22
	Note ^ 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. ;

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.

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

Best Picture

Christina Oh was nominated for Best Picture category for producing Minari (2020).

Year	Film	Nominee	Status	Milestone / Notes
Best Picture
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

Christine Choy, who is half-Korean through her father, was nominated for Best Documentary Feature category.

Year	Name	Film	Status	Milestone / Notes
Documentary Feature
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

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

Best Animated Feature

Jennifer Yuh Nelson was nominated for Best Animated Feature category.

Year	Name	Film	Status	Milestone / Notes
Best Animated Feature
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

Year	Name	Film	Status	Milestone / Notes
Animated Short Film
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

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.

Year	Film	Director	Status	Milestone / Notes
International Feature Film
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

Best Actor

Steven Yeun (pictured in 2016) was nominated for Best Actor category.

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

Best Supporting Actress

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.

Year	Name	Film	Role	Status	Milestone / Notes
Actress in a Supporting Role
2020 (93rd)	Youn Yuh-jung	Minari	Soon-ja	Won	First Korean actress to win an acting award.^[9]

Craft

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

Year	Name	Film	Status	Milestone / Notes
Director
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

Year	Name	Film	Status	Milestone / Notes
Original Screenplay
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

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

Best Production Design

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

Best Original Song

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

References

^ illiterates, the art of (2024-02-02). "Exploring the Oscar-Nominated Animated Shorts of 2004, 20 years on". Medium. Retrieved 2024-09-01.
^ "Academy Unveils 2019 Oscar Shortlists". The Hollywood Reporter. 17 December 2018. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
^ 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)
^ "Parasite: What the Oscar win means for Korean cinema". BBC News. 2020-02-11. Retrieved 2024-08-20.
^ 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.
^ 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.
^ "Oscars: South Korea Selects Palme d'Or Winner 'Parasite' for International Feature Film Award". Variety. 21 August 2019. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
^ "Parasite wins best international feature film Oscar". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
^ "Oscar-nominee Youn Yuh-jung reaches career peak at age of 73". The Korea Herald. March 15, 2021. Retrieved March 15, 2021.
^ Oscars: Bong Joon Ho's 'Parasite' Wins South Korea's First Oscar|Hollywood Reporter
^ 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.

[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.

[2] terates, the art of (2024-02-02). "Exploring the Oscar-Nominated Animated Shorts of 2004, 20 years on". Medium. Retrieved 2024-09-01.

[Dec18-3] "Academy Unveils 2019 Oscar Shortlists". The Hollywood Reporter. 17 December 2018. Retrieved 18 December 2018.

[4] 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)

[5] "Parasite: What the Oscar win means for Korean cinema". BBC News. 2020-02-11. Retrieved 2024-08-20.

[6] 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.

[7] 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.

[92nd-8] "Oscars: South Korea Selects Palme d'Or Winner 'Parasite' for International Feature Film Award". Variety. 21 August 2019. Retrieved 21 August 2019.

[9] "Parasite wins best international feature film Oscar". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 9 February 2020.

[10] "Oscar-nominee Youn Yuh-jung reaches career peak at age of 73". The Korea Herald. March 15, 2021. Retrieved March 15, 2021.

[11] Oscars: Bong Joon Ho's 'Parasite' Wins South Korea's First Oscar|Hollywood Reporter

[12] 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.

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