Kim Eunsook received the Golden Bird Award at the Seoul Drama Awards 2026, while Jin Akanishi attended and won an Asia Star Award.

Writer Kim Eunsook won the Golden Bird Award, the highest honor, at the "Seoul Drama Awards 2026." From Japan, Jin Akanishi attended. Yesterday (the 8th), the "Seoul Drama Awards 2026" was held at KBS Hall in Yeouido, Seoul. The awards ceremony was broadcast live through MBC and the official Seoul Drama Awards channel, and actor Kim Nam-gil and MBC announcer Lee Jae-eun served as hosts. This year’s "Seoul Drama Awards" had 352 works submitted from a record-high 46 countries and regions. After judging, 30 works for the work awards and 34 individuals (teams) for the individual awards advanced to the main competition. After that, a total of 10 work awards and 16 individual winners were selected in the three categories of international competition, K-drama, and international invitation. On this day, writer Kim Eunsook received the highest honor, the Golden Bird Award. The Golden Bird Award is given to works and creators among topical works from around the world that are recognized for both artistic quality and popularity. This is the first time the writer’s award has gone to Kim Eunsook. Writer Kim Eunsook began by saying, "I am truly grateful. Until a little while ago, when I was sitting over there, I was confident that I wouldn’t be nervous, but I am really trembling. For those who do not know who I am, I have been writing in Korea for 23 years. I am a drama writer who has just received this wonderful award." She said, "Recently, I heard an interesting story from a foreign professor. No country sets aside a holiday and takes a day off on the day they created their own writing system; there is no such crazy country. It is said that only Korea does that. And tomorrow is exactly Hangul Day (Hangul Day is October 9). I would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank King Sejong, who made it possible for us to make a living by earning through Hangul." She further said, "Seeing people at this awards ceremony thankfully give their acceptance speeches in our language made me feel that Korean dramas are no longer just our own creations, but creations loved all over the world, and I also felt a sense of responsibility. I think I must work even harder from now on. As a creator, I have recently felt gloomy. That is why, at times like this, I will firmly hold on to the two unchanging words, 'authenticity' and 'zeitgeist,' and continue to live my life as a drama writer who makes things interesting and meaningful, makes people laugh and cry, gives emotion, and gives comfort." In the K-drama category, "The Story of Kim Bu-jang Who Commutes from His House in Seoul to a Large Company" and "Wonderful New World" won the work awards. Ryu Seung-ryong won the actor award for the drama "The Story of Kim Bu-jang Who Commutes from His House in Seoul to a Large Company." With this, "The Story of Kim Bu-jang Who Commutes from His House in Seoul to a Large Company" won three awards. Ryu Seung-ryong said, "Being nominated together with senior Gary Oldman and then winning myself feels too unreal. I am truly grateful." He also said, "Together with the love of many people, it is an honor to receive such a valuable award along the long journey of 'The Story of Kim Bu-jang Who Commutes from His House in Seoul to a Large Company.' When appearing in a work, I learn many things, and I also felt many things in this work. I was able to feel the weight of life, the great weight of living, and ordinary daily life." He added, "I sincerely thank everyone who crossed borders and empathized with and talked about our story with the same feelings. I would like to share this joy with the production team, staff, and actors who made this wonderful work." Ku Gyo-hwan won the actor award for "Everyone Is Fighting Their Worthless Self," and Im Ji-yeon won the actress award for "Wonderful New World." Ku Gyo-hwan said, "I am truly honored. I am truly happy. Happiness is the best. I hope everyone has time to take care of and love themselves in their own way." He then shouted, "You will be able to pick up the shining truth well during that time. Let’s all do our best. Fight." Im Ji-yeon said, "'Wonderful New World' was a work made not out of the desire to make the work succeed, but because everyone truly loved this work and loved the character Shin So-ri, and everyone was on the same page, working hard and pouring in a lot of sincere love. It was a miraculous work for me that taught me that making a work while relying on and supporting one another is what this is." She said, "It was an honor to work with talented staff and respected actors. I would like to give this glory to director Han Tae-seop, who believed in me until the end and became a reliable support, and to writer Kang Hyeon-ju, who gave me great emotion through her writing and gave me the courage to take a step forward, and to my wonderful partner Heo Nam-joon." Also, Anton of RIIZE, who sang the OST song "Close to Me" for Season 3 of "Yumi’s Cells," received the honor of the K-drama category OST award. Anton said, "I am sincerely grateful. I am also grateful to all the production staff and to SM Entertainment for letting me sing the OST for such a wonderful work, 'Yumi’s Cells.' 'Close to Me' is special to me as well. It was not only an OST; it was the first time I sang alone from beginning to end with my own voice." He said, "While recording, I worried and was nervous a lot. Of course, I recorded happily, but those memories come back to me. It seems that those feelings were conveyed well through the song, and there seem to have been people who liked it that much. Above all, I am truly grateful to Breeze (the fan club name), who worked so hard for me, gave me so much love, and invested their time for me. It reached me, and I was moved too," expressing his gratitude to the fans. From Japan, Jin Akanishi attended. He received the Asia Star Award in the international invitation category. Standing at the microphone, he took out the paper he had prepared and said in Korean, "Hello, everyone. If there are fans in Korea who support me, I am truly happy to be able to meet you like this in Korea." He continued, mixing English and Korean, "I am grateful to the Netflix team, the Japan-Korea team, Han Hyo-joo, Oguri ajusshi (Mr. Oguri, Shun Oguri), and Nakamura Yuri, who is now in heaven. And above all, I am truly grateful to everyone who voted for me." He co-starred with the late Yuri Nakamura, who passed away last month, in the Netflix series "Romantics Anonymous." He also expressed gratitude to her. ・[PHOTO] From Jin Akanishi to Ku Gyo-hwan and Kim Nam-gil, they appear on the red carpet of the "Seoul Drama Awards 2026" ・[PHOTO] Jin Akanishi, RIIZE’s Anton, and Ryu Seung-ryong attend the awards ceremony of the "Seoul Drama Awards 2026" "Complete list of all winners (works) of the 21st Seoul Drama Awards 2026" ◆ Golden Bird Award: Kim Eunsook International Competition Category ◆ Grand Prize: "A Better Man" (Norway) Work Awards ◆ Single-episode drama: "Disclosure" (Germany) ◆ Mini-series = "Wonderful New World" (Korea), "The Story of Kim Bu-jang Who Commutes from His House in Seoul to a Large Company" (Korea), "Pluribus: The Age of Happiness" (United States) ◆ Feature-length: "If I Hadn't Seen the Sun" (Taiwan), "The Child" (Greece) ◆ Short-form: "unfiltered" (Spain) Individual Awards ◆ Directing Award: "Pluribus: The Age of Happiness" Vince Gilligan, Gordon Smith ◆ Writer Award: Thomas Seberg Trudsen ("A Better Man") ◆ Actor Award: Anders Baasmo ("A Better Man"), Ryu Seung-ryong ("The Story of Kim Bu-jang Who Commutes from His House in Seoul to a Large Company") ◆ Actress Award: Elizaveta Maximova ("Mom") K-drama Category ◆ Work Awards: "The Story of Kim Bu-jang Who Commutes from His House in Seoul to a Large Company" (SLL), "Everyone Is Fighting Their Worthless Self" (SLL) Individual Awards ◆ Actor Award: Ku Gyo-hwan ("Everyone Is Fighting Their Worthless Self") ◆ Actress Award: Im Ji-yeon ("Wonderful New World") ◆ OST Award: RIIZE Anton "Close to Me" ("Yumi’s Cells" Season 3) International Invitation Category ◆ Asia Star Award: NCT Jaemin ("Wind Up"), BLACKPINK Jisoo ("Monthly Boyfriend"), Yang Yang ("The Immortal Ascension"), Jin Akanishi ("Romantics Anonymous"), Paulo Avelino ("The Alibi"), Rebecca Patricia Armstrong ("Her Name Is Nanno: Reset"), Gladys Bay ("Under the Net")