Annual Popular Culture and Arts Awards go to 36 recipients, from a 4-decade-old rock band to the songwriter behind 'KPop Demon Hunters' hit 'Golden'
All four members of Blackpink, comedian and TV host Yoo Jae-suk and the late rock musician Shin Hae-chul are among this year’s recipients of the Order of Cultural Merit, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said Thursday.
Shin, who died in 2014, will posthumously receive the Eungwan Order, the second of the Order of Cultural Merit’s five grades. He won the 1988 MBC College Song Festival and went on to lead the band N.EX.T, and he is credited with bringing Korean rock into the mainstream.
The Bogwan Order, the third-highest grade, will go to five people: producer Park Myung-sung, who has brought various musical theater productions to Korea, including “Mamma Mia!” and “Chicago”; voice actor Park Young-nam, known for Dooly and Jjanggu; jazz pianist Shin Kwan-woong; singer Han Young-ae, who marks the 50th anniversary of her debut this year, and Yoo Jae-suk, who has worked in broadcasting for more than 30 years, including on “Infinite Challenge."
Blackpink’s Rose, Lisa, Jennie and Jisoo will receive the Okgwan Order, the fourth-highest grade. Blackpink, which celebrated its 10th anniversary in August, has topped both the Billboard 200 and the UK Official Albums charts. In February, it became the first musical act in the world to exceed 100 million YouTube subscribers.
Presidential citations will be given to rock band Boohwal; boy band Super Junior; music director Kang Seung-won; actors Yoo Hae-jin, Ryu Seung-ryong and So Ji-sub; and director Jang Hang-jun. Jang’s “The King’s Warden” drew more than 16 million viewers and became the second-highest-grossing Korean film of all time.
Songwriter Ejae, whose “Golden” from "KPop Demon Hunters" reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and won a Grammy, will receive a prime minister’s citation. The award will also go to pansori singer Lee Ja-ram, creator of the pansori works “Sacheonga” and “Ukchukga”; actor Kim Go-eun of “Goblin” and the 10-million-viewer hit “Exhuma”; actor Oh Jung-se of “Extreme Job” and “Hot Stove League”; and the sibling duo AKMU.
Eleven people and groups receive culture minister’s citations. They are: comedians Kim Shin-young and Kim Won-hoon, the latter known for the YouTube sketch channel Short Box; choreographer Lee Jung of “Street Woman Fighter”; actors Lim Ji-yeon of “The Glory,” Choi Dae-hoon of “When Life Gives You Tangerines,” Park Ji-hoon, who played the boy king Danjong in “The King’s Warden,” and Yoon Kyung-ho of “The Trauma Code: Heroes on Call”; producer Jang Won-seok of “The Roundup” film series; trot singer Jang Min-ho of “Mister Trot”; girl group NMIXX; and boy band Enhypen, which topped the Billboard 200 six years after its debut.
“This year’s recipients have stood by the public for a long time on stage, on air and on screen, leading the development of Korean popular culture and arts,” Culture Minister Chae Hwi-young said.
The awards began in 2010 and are the government’s highest honor for popular culture and the arts. They recognize people who have raised the status of popular artists and helped the industry grow.
The Culture Ministry and the Korea Creative Content Agency are to hold the award ceremony on Thursday evening at the Haeoreum Theater of the National Theater of Korea in Jung-gu, central Seoul.
gypark@heraldcorp.com
