The Korean drama season is at an all-time high. Days after fans of the Hallyu Wave are still coming to terms with the celebrations of this year’s K-World Dream Awards, the Brand of the Year Awards took over on August 28 morning. And so, as we are still trying to get a handle on things, K-media has now also rolled out the nominees for the 16th Korea Drama Awards.
Fan-favourite actors like Park Bo Gum and IU, who took the world on an emotional rollercoaster with their performances in Netflix’s When Life Gives You Tangerines have bagged nods in the Best Actor/Actress categories. Fellow A-listers Park Hyung Sik, Yoo Yeon Seok, Park Bo Young, Lim Ji Yeon and others are also vying for the same golden titles.
While several actors have gained notable mentions across nominees board for their acting chops taking centre stage in multiple dramas, no one comes close to the over-worked, rising star of the industry, Lee Jun Young. In 2025 alone, the K-drama heartthrob has starred in four shows already, namely, Melo Movie, When Life Gives You Tangerines, Weak Hero Class 2 and Pump Up the Healthy Movie.
Here’s everything you need to know about the upcoming K-drama awards ceremony!
2025 Korea Drama Awards voting begins…
According to the Korea Drama Festival Organising Committee’s latest announcement, the voting period opened today, August 28, and will remain open till September 22. In addition to honouring impressive actors, the committee reviewed a total of 92 dramas to come to finalise its much-anticipated nominees list. These include the ones that aired across three major terrestrial broadcasters, cable channels, general networks and OTT streaming platforms.
For the popularity-based Hot Star Award, the second round of voting will close at 11:59 PM KST on September 17. Meanwhile, the same period for the Global Star Award and the Popular Couple Award categories will extend to 11:59 PM KST on September 19. Finally, the voting for Best OST and Multi-Tainer Award will be called of at 11:59 PM KST on September 22.
16th Korea Drama Awards nominees list
- Best New Actor
Kang You Seok
Ryeoun
Choo Young Woo
Heo Nam Jun
Kim Min Kyu
Bae Na Ra
- Best New Actress
Roh Jeong Eui
Chae Won Bin
Kim Eun Bi
Shi Si Ah
Chung Su Bin
Hong Hwa Yeon
- Excellence in Acting Award (Female)
Kim Ji Yeon
Hyeri
Cha Joo Young
Kim So Hyun
Go Youn Jung
Han Ji Eun
- Excellence in Acting Award (Male)
Lee Hyun Wook
Choi Woo Shik
Park Ji Hoon
Lee Jun Young
Park Jinyoung
Jung Jun Won
- Best Actress
IU
Park Bo Young
Chae Soo Bin
Han Ji Min
Lim Ji Yeon
Lee Se Young
- Best Drama
Good Boy
Our Unwritten Seoul
Buried Hearts
Resident Playbook
Doubt
Love Scout
The Haunted Palace
Tastefully Yours
Other fan-voted categories go into second round
Meanwhile, the second voting round for certain out-and-out popularity award categories has also kicked off. The six categories in question are: Hot Star Award (Male/Female), Global Star Award, Popular Couple, Multi-Tainer Award and Best OST Award. Following the first round, each category narrowed down the massive pool to Top 10 names.
Byeon Woo Seok, Lee Joon Hyuk, Hwang In Yeop, Lee Jun Young and Choo Young Woo were included in the Hot Star Award (Male) category. On the flips side, the women nominees were stars like Kim Hye Yoon, Jung Soo Bin, Jo Bo Ah, Jo Yi Hyun and Park Bo Young. The Global Star Award nominees, on the other hand, includes Byeon Woo Seok, Park Bo Gum, Lee Hyeri, Kim Hye Yoon, Lee Jae Wook and Kim Ji Won.
Lee Hyeri-Jung Soo Bin (A Friendly Rivalry), Choo Young Woo-Jo Yi Hyun (Head Over Heels), Park Jinyoung-Park Bo Young (Our Unwritten Seoul), Lee Joon Hyuk-Han Ji Min (Love Scout), and Yoo Yeon Seok-Chae Soo Bin (When the Phone Rings) were some of the 10 couples listed as nominees for the Popular Couple Award.
Additionally, those headed to the second round of Best OST category voting include Son Tae Jin’s “I Will Hug You,” Young Tak’s “Unknown Life,” Lim Young Woong’s “More Beautiful Than Heaven,” and TOMORROW X TOGETHER’s “When That Day Comes.
2025 Korea Drama Awards: Date announced
The upcoming awards show is the main event of the 2025 Korea Drama Festival, which is slated to be held from October 10 to 19 in Jinju, South Gyeongsang Province. The show-stopping main show will be presented on the second of the fest on October 11 at Gyeongsangnam-do Culture and Arts Center at 5 PM KST.
This is a developing story.