The Seoul Drama Awards 2025 announced winners, with Ben Stiller's 'Severance' winning the Golden Bird Award and multiple others recognized.

The Seoul Drama Awards organizing committee (Chairman: Ban Munshin) announced today (16th) the award-winning works and recipients of the 'Seoul Drama Awards 2025.' Among a total of 276 entries and 409 entrants from 50 countries, the honors were awarded across the international competition category, K-drama category, and international invitation category, with 7 works and 16 individuals recognized. The highest honor, the Golden Bird Award, was awarded to Ben Stiller (for directing Season 2 of 'Severance' on Apple TV+). Besides the Golden Bird Award, 'Severance' Season 2, which won two awards including the writer's award, depicts the dystopian reality of modern workplace society through its original setting of 'memory interruption surgery.' Directed by famous Hollywood actor Ben Stiller, it is a psychological thriller drama that explores the inner nature of humanity through the disconnection between the self as an employee 'Ini' and the self as a natural person 'Outi.' It has won a total of 8 awards at the 77th Emmy Awards, including acting and technical awards, and has been recognized globally for its quality. The organizing committee revealed that 'Ben Stiller's creativity and excellent direction, which portrayed understanding and insight into humanity, aligned perfectly with the purpose of this award, which seeks to explore the path humanity should take to understand each other.' Following this, Netflix's 'Adolescence' won the grand prize, directing award, and male acting award in the international competition category, making it a three-time winner. This work, which depicts serious social issues such as youth crime, gender conflict, and cyberbullying, received praise from the judging panel for its courage to confront the anger and confusion of youth in this era and the immersive experience of one-take filming. The directing award went to Philippe Barantini, and the male acting award went to Owen Cooper, with the work being evaluated as an outstanding piece in all aspects of quality, acting, and direction. The K-drama category work award was shared by Netflix's 'Trauma Code' and 'Thank You.' The male and female acting awards were also awarded to Ju Ji-hoon and IU, respectively, for their touching performances in the award-winning works. 'Trauma Code' depicts the story of genius surgeon Baek Gang-hyuk (Ju Ji-hoon) who is assigned to a nominally prestigious trauma team and revives the team, based on a webtoon. It has been praised for its immersion, stunning action, and emotional depth. Thanks to Ju Ji-hoon's performance, 'Trauma Code' maintained the top spot in the Korean Netflix TOP 10 series category for a long time and also ranked first in the global non-English TV show category, becoming a historic hit on Netflix. 'Thank You' has also been a top hit in Korea this year, depicting the life of a boy and girl born on Jeju Island through four seasons, conveying the value of unchanging parental love, poignant couple's affection, and neighborly warmth across generations. The judging panel particularly noted that 'the camera angles tracing the inner lives of the two protagonists, Esung (IU) and Gwang-sik (Park Bo-gum), are quiet and refined like a watercolor painting, and within that, IU delivers a performance that shows emotional depth beyond simple romance.' The OST award went to singer Yong-tak for the main OST 'Unknowable Life' from KBS 2TV's weekend drama 'Please Take Care of the Drug Brothers.' The international competition category female acting award was jointly awarded to Cate Blanchett for 'Disclaimer: Summer Silence' and Kim Min-ha for 'Pachinko' Season 2. The judging panel praised Cate Blanchett's performance in 'Disclaimer: Summer Silence,' stating, 'Only she can overwhelmingly portray such an intense story. Her ability to dominate the screen with emotional expression is astonishing.' 'Pachinko' Season 2 won the mini-series work award and actress Kim Min-ha received the female acting award, making it a two-time winner at this ceremony. The judging panel noted that Kim Min-ha, in the role of Sonja, has 'a special talent to convey all emotions in just one unembellished scene. She boasts outstanding acting skills that combine softness and strength, wildness and delicacy.' Philippe Barantini from 'Boy's Time' and director Hiroshi Kurosawa from 'Asura' received the directing award. 'Asura' was praised by the judging panel as 'an excellent work that exquisitely directs not only the complex relationships within the family but also the nostalgic beautiful scenes of life in 1970s Japan and the tension of the oppressive roles expected of women.' Additionally, in the international competition category, CJ ENM's 'The Son Died' won the short drama category work award. The organizing committee and IDOL CHAMP selected the Asia Star Award winners through global Hallyu fan voting, with Kim Sung-ho, BLACKPINK's Jisoo, and a total of 7 winners from 6 countries. The 20th Seoul Drama Awards ceremony will be held on October 2 at 5 PM at KBS Hall, followed by a red carpet event with Korean and international winners and presenters just before the ceremony. The awards ceremony will be broadcast worldwide on SBS and official YouTube on October 3 at 6 PM.