Baeksang Awards start this evening without an audience

The 56th Baeksang Arts Awards, which will begin at 4:50 p.m. Friday at Kintex in Ilsan, Gyeonggi, will be aired live on JTBC.

The annual ceremony, organized by JTBC Plus and Ilgan Sports, will be hosted by comedian Shin Dong-yup, actor Park Bo-gum and singer-turned-actor Suzy for the third consecutive year. It will not have an audience, in order to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

Nominees for Best Drama include KBS2’s “When the Camellia Blooms,” tvN’s “Crash Landing on You,” SBS’s “Stove League” and “Hyena,” as well as Netflix’s second season of “Kingdom.”

For Best Film, nominees include “Parasite,” “The Man Standing Next,” “House of Hummingbird,” “E.X.I.T,” and “Kim Ji Young, Born 1982.”

The Best Female Actor award, which went last year to veteran actor Kim Hye-ja, may go to Kim Hee-ae for “Moonlit Winter,” Kim So-jin for “Another Child,” Jeon Do-yeon for “Birthday,” Jung Yu-mi for “Kim Ji Young, Born 1982” or Jo Yeo-jung for “Parasite.” Nominees for Best Actor include veteran names like Song Kang-ho, Lee Byun-hun, Lee Je-hoon, Jo Jung-suk, and Han Suk-kyu.

Many winners from last year will appear to present awards to this year’s winner.

Launched in 1965, the annual awards ceremony is one of Korea’s top awards recognizing achievements on both the small and the big screens. The event was initially set for May 1, but was delayed following the coronavirus outbreak.
A red carpet event and backstage interviews will also be live-streamed via TikTok.

BY YIM SEUNG-HYE [sharon@joongang.co.kr]