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Winners of the 39th Golden Disc Awards in Fukuoka — in pictures

Published: 05 Jan. 2025, 14:14 Updated: 05 Jan. 2025, 22:26

KIM JEE-HEE
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The 39th Golden Disc Awards, a two-day event, kicked off on Jan. 4 at the Mizuho PayPay Dome in Fukuoka, Japan. [GOLDEN DISC AWARDS ORGANIZING COMMITTEE]

The 39th Golden Disc Awards kicked off on Saturday at the Mizuho PayPay Dome in Fukuoka, Japan.

The two-day music ceremony, hosted by the JoongAng Group, celebrates the successes of K-pop bands over the past year by giving out multiple honors and one grand prize in three main categories — Digital Song of the Year, Album of the Year and Rookie Artist of the Year — and popular vote awards for male and female acts.

The ceremony's live broadcast was canceled, with the show's organizing committee deciding to observe the mourning period for the victims of the Jeju Air crash that took the lives of 179 people. The recorded version of each day of the show will be be aired on JTBC at midnight on Jan. 5 and at 1:20 a.m. on Jan. 7.

From left, singer Sung Si-kyung, actor Moon Ka-young and singer-actor Cha Eun-woo host the 39th Golden Disc Awards held at the Mizuho PayPay Dome in Fukuoka, Japan, on Jan. 4. [GOLDEN DISC AWARDS ORGANIZING COMMITTEE]

On the first day, girl group aespa, who rocked most of 2024 with a series of hit songs like "Supernova" (2023), "Armageddon" (2024) and "Whiplash" (2024) won the Grand Prize for the Digital Song of the Year.

Girl group aespa of SM Entertainment speaks after winning the the Digital Song of the Year award at the 39th Golden Disc Awards held at the Mizuho PayPay Dome in Fukuoka, Japan, on Jan. 4. [GOLDEN DISC AWARDS ORGANIZING COMMITTEE]

Rookie Artist of the Year was shared by girl group ILLIT and boy band TWS.

The Grand Prize for the Digital Album of the Year will be announced Sunday.

Boy band TWS speaks after winning the Rookie of the Year award at the 39th Golden Disc Awards held at the Mizuho PayPay Dome in Fukuoka, Japan, on Jan. 4. [GOLDEN DISC AWARDS ORGANIZING COMMITTEE]

Girl group ILLIT speaks after winning the Rookie of the Year award at the 39th Golden Disc Awards held at the Mizuho PayPay Dome in Fukuoka, Japan, on Jan. 4. [GOLDEN DISC AWARDS ORGANIZING COMMITTEE]

Le Sserafim won the female popular vote award and virtual idol group PLAVE won the same award in the male category. The award is chosen solely based on votes by fans during the pre-announcement voting period.

Girl group Le Sserafim speaks after winning the popular vote award at the 39th Golden Disc Awards held at the Mizuho PayPay Dome in Fukuoka, Japan, on Jan. 4. The award was given wholly based on fan votes. [GOLDEN DISC AWARDS ORGANIZING COMMITTEE]

Separately, the Best Digital Song award was given to 10 groups and solo artists — NewJeans, DAY6, BIBI, IVE, IU, ILLIT, aespa, Taeyeon, TWS and (G)I-DLE.

This year, a special award category, Golden Honorable Choice, was added to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the death of singer Shin Hae-chul.

Late singer Shin Hae-chul [YONHAP]

Shin, born in 1968, is one of the biggest names in Korean music history, with more than 30 studio albums.

Shin and his group Muhangwedo debuted in 1988 on TV in an annual singing competition hosted by MBC, winning the grand prize with the rock song “To You." After Muhangwedo, Shin performed as the lead vocalist for the rock group N.EX.T.

The Best Group, Best Band and Best OST awards were each won by Le Sserafim, DAY6 and Crush, respectively. Crush was recognized for his song "Love you with all my heart" (2024), which featured on the hit tvN romance drama "Queen of Tears" (2024) starring actors Kim Soo-hyun and Kim Ji-won.

Singer Crush speaks after winning the Best OST award at the 39th Golden Disc Awards held at the Mizuho PayPay Dome in Fukuoka, Japan, on Jan. 4. [GOLDEN DISC AWARDS ORGANIZING COMMITTEE]

The Cosmopolitan Artist award, an award that honors artists who lead global fashion trends, was awarded to NewJeans.

NewJeans thanks fans and staff after winning the Cosmopolitan Award at the 39th Golden Disc Awards on Jan. 4. [GOLDEN DISC AWARDS ORGANIZING COMMITTEE]

Girl group Kiss of Life won the Next Generation award for its song "Sticky" (2024), honoring the group's potential to lead the next generation of K-pop.

Girl group Kiss of Life delivers a speech after winning the Next Generation award at the 39th Golden Disc Awards held at the Mizuho PayPay Dome in Fukuoka, Japan, on Jan. 4. [GOLDEN DISC AWARDS ORGANIZING COMMITTEE]

Here are pictures of the winners as well as scenes from the music awards ceremony.

The 39th Golden Disc Awards, a two-day event, kicked off on Jan. 4 at the Mizuho Pay Pay Dome in Fukuoka, Japan. [GOLDEN DISC AWARDS ORGANIZING COMMITTEE]

Band DAY6 speaks after winning the Best Band award at the 39th Golden Disc Awards on Jan. 4. [GOLDEN DISC AWARDS ORGANIZING COMMITTEE]

Girl group Le Sserafim speaks after winning the Best Group award at the 39th Golden Disc Awards held at Mizuho PayPay Dome in Fukuoka, Japan, on Jan. 4. [GOLDEN DISC AWARDS ORGANIZING COMMITTEE]

Girl group (G)I-DLE speaks after winning the Best Digital Song award at the 39th Golden Disc Awards held at Mizuho PayPay Dome in Fukuoka, Japan, on Jan. 4. [GOLDEN DISC AWARDS ORGANIZING COMMITTEE]

Boy group TWS speaks after winning the Best Digital Song award at the 39th Golden Disc Awards held at Mizuho PayPay Dome in Fukuoka, Japan, on Jan. 4. [GOLDEN DISC AWARDS ORGANIZING COMMITTEE]

Girl group aespa speaks after winning the Best Digital Song award at the 39th Golden Disc Awards held at the Mizuho PayPay Dome in Fukuoka, Japan, on Jan. 4. [GOLDEN DISC AWARDS ORGANIZING COMMITTEE]

Girl group ILLIT speaks after winning the Best Digital Song award at the 39th Golden Disc Awards held at the Mizuho PayPay Dome in Fukuoka, Japan, on Jan. 4. [GOLDEN DISC AWARDS ORGANIZING COMMITTEE]

Singer BIBI celebrates after winning the Best Digital Song award at the 39th Golden Disc Awards held at the Mizuho PayPay Dome in Fukuoka, Japan, on Jan. 4. [GOLDEN DISC AWARDS ORGANIZING COMMITTEE]

Boy band DAY6 speaks after winning the Best Digital Song award at the 39th Golden Disc Awards held at Mizuho PayPay Dome in Fukuoka, Japan, on Jan. 4. [GOLDEN DISC AWARDS ORGANIZING COMMITTEE]

Actor Park Eun-bin took part in the 39th Golden Disc Awards held at the Mizuho PayPay Dome in Fukuoka, Japan, on Jan. 4, announcing the winner of the Digital Song of the Year award. [GOLDEN DISC AWARDS ORGANIZING COMMITTEE]

Girl group NewJeans speaks after winning the Best Digital Song at the 39th Golden Disc Awards held at the Mizuho PayPay Dome in Fukuoka, Japan, on Jan. 4. The group members did not mention their group name ″NewJeans″ during the speech. [GOLDEN DISC AWARDS ORGANIZING COMMITTEE]

The 39th Golden Disc Awards, a two-day event, kicked off on Jan. 4 at the Mizhuho Pay Pay Dome in Fukuoka, Japan. [GOLDEN DISC AWARDS ORGANIZING COMMITTEE]