Music director Jung Jae-il wins prize at 2021 HMMA for 'Squid Game'

Music director Jung Jae-il became the first Korean to receive an award at the Hollywood Music In Media Awards. [ILGAN SPORTS]

Music director Jung Jae-il won the top prize in the TV show/Limited Series category at the 2021 Hollywood Music In Media Awards (HMMA) for Netflix Korea’s original series “Squid Game.”

The 12th edition of the award ceremony was hosted online. Jung became the first Korean to win an award at HMMA, an event to honor original music in visual media worldwide. HMMA nominations have historically been representative of the nominees and winners of upcoming award shows in the film industry such as the Golden Globes, Oscars, Grammys and Emmys.

The other nominees in the category were Netflix’s “Halston,” Disney+’s “Loki,” and “WandaVision,” and AppleTV+’s “Physical” and “Ted Lasso.”

Jung also worked on “Parasite” (2019), “Okja” (2017), “The Fortress” (2017), “Miss Granny” (2014) and “Silenced” (2011). He was previously nominated in the category of Original Score — Feature Film at HMMA in 2019 for his work on “Parasite.”

"Thank you for the wonderful award," Jung said. "I will share this honor with music director Kim Sung-soo and composer Park Min-ju who both worked with me."

BY LEE JAE-LIM [lee.jaelim@joongang.co.kr]