Kim So Yeon of “Happy Home” was given the Grand Excellence Award (Daesang) on Friday at the 2016 Korea Drama Award, beating “Descendants of the Sun” actor Soong Joong Ki who got a similar award at the 2016 APAN Award.
But the 16-episode blockbuster drama won the Best Drama Award, beating “Six Flying Dragons” of SBS, “Doctors” of SBS and “Signal” of tvN. Jo Jae Yoon, also from “Descendants of the Sun,” won the Best Actor, Excellence Award.
After 22 years since she made her acting debut in “Dinosaur Teacher” at the age of 14, it was Kim So Yeon’s first Daesang Award, which was a double victory for her because she also won the Star of the Year Award.
In her acceptance speech, Kim So Yeon said, “Everyone, you cannot believe it right? I as well cannot believe this is happening but thank you. I will unabashedly receive this award as I am not sure if such a day will ever come again in my lifetime," quoted Soompi.
Fans of “Descendants of the Sun” actress Song Hye Kyo, who was not nominated for Best Actress, as expected, were again offended by what they perceive as another snub similar to what APAN Awards did.
The full list of the winners is below:
• Grand Excellence Award (Daesang): Kim So Yeon – MBC’s “Happy Home”
• Best Drama: KBS2’s “Descendants of the Sun”
• Best Drama Writer: No Hee Kyung – tvN’s “Dear My Friends”
• Best Director: Kim Jin Min – MBC’s “Marriage Contract”
• Best Actress, Top Excellence Award: Baek Jin Hee – MBC’s “My Daughter, Geum Sa Wol”
• Best Actor, Top Excellence Award: Jang Hyun Sung – SBS’s “Doctors” and Ahn Jae Hyun – tvN’s “Cinderella and Four Knights”
• Best Actress, Excellence Award: Park Se Young – MBC’s “My Daughter, Geum Sa Wol”
• Best Actor, Excellence Award: Jo Jae Yoon – KBS2’s “Descendants of the Sun”
• Best New Actress: Kim Sae Ron – JTBC’s “Mirror of the Witch”
• Best New Actor: Seo Ha Joon – MBC’s “The Flower in Prison”
• Achievement Award: Lee Dong Jin
• Jury’s Special Award: So Yoo Jin – KBS2’s “Five Children”
• Global Star: Ahn Jae Hyun – tvN’s “Cinderella and Four Knight
• This Year’s Star: Kim So Yeon – MBC’s “Happy Home”
• Hallyu Star: Han Seung Yeon – JTBC’s “Age of Youth”
• Hot Star: Lee Ki Woo – tvN’s “Memory”
• Global Management Award: Moon Bo Mi from HB Entertainment
• Best OST: Insooni, “Such A Beautiful Person” feat. Yuk Ji Dam – MBC’s “Mom”
The event was held at the Gyeongnam Culture and Arts Center in Jinju City, South Gyeongsang Province, wherein there was also a live broadcast and live chat where some of the results of the 2016 Korea Drama awards were questioned by some viewers who had other bets.