Popular Dramas and High Profile Stars Like Lee Byung Hun and Son Ye Jin Lead 2018 APAN Star Award Nominations

Following behind the nominations for the Korean Drama Awards come the nominations for the 2018 APAN Star Awards which is on its 6th year now. It’s skewed towards the popular more than elite selection metrics but as always an interesting take on what dramas and actors/actresses are getting recognition in a drama year. The notable names up for the Daesang top price are familiar faces to getting awards: Lee Byung Hun for Mr. Sunshine, Pretty Noona Who Buys Me Food‘s Son Ye Jin, Kim Nam Joo as Misty, Jo Seung Woo in Life, and my fave choice in Lee Seon Kyun who turned in a career performance (among his many) in My Ahjusshi. The cast from those dramas also pepper the other acting categories, and other dramas/cast getting nods include both sets of leads Park Seo Joon and Park Min Young in Why Secretary Kim and While You Were Sleeping with Lee Jong Seok and Suzy. Below is the full list with lots more award categories than the Korean Drama Awards.

Nominees for 2018 APAN Awards:

Daesang

Kim Nam Joo (Misty)
Son Ye Jin (Pretty Noona Who Buys Me Food)
Lee Byung Hun (Mr. Sunshine)
Lee Sun Kyun (My Ahjusshi)
Jo Seung Woo (Life)

Top Best Actor (Short Drama)

Park Seo Joon (Why Secretary Kim)
Lee Dong Wook (Life)
Lee Jong Suk (While You Were Sleeping)
Jung Kyung Ho (Life on Mars)
Jo Jung Suk (Two Cops)

Top Best Actress (Short Drama)

Kim Sun Ah (Shall We Kiss First?)
Lee Bo Young (Mother)
IU (My Ahjusshi)
Jung Ryeo Won (Witch’s Court)
Jung Yu Mi (Live)

Top Best Actor (Long Drama)

Park Shi Hoo (My Golden Life)
Lee Sang Woo (Marry Me Now)
Lee Sung Jae (Goodbye to Goodbye)
Jang Hyuk (Money Flower)
Jung Woong In (Goodbye to Goodbye)

Top Best Actress (Long Drama)

Do Ji Won (Bravo My Life)
Shin Hye Sun (My Golden Life)
Lee Yu Ri (Hide and Seek)
Chae Shi Ra (Goodbye to Goodbye)
Han Ji Hye (Marry Me Now)

Best Actor (Short Drama)

Yoo Yeon Suk (Mr. Sunshine)
Yoon Shi Yoon (Grand Prince)
Park Hae Soo (Smart Prison Living)
Park Hyung Sik (Suits)
Jung Hae In (Pretty Noona Who Buys Me Food)

Best Actress (Short Drama)

Go Ara (Miss Hammurabi)
Go Ah Sung (Life on Mars)
Park Min Young (Why Secretary Kim)
Bae Suzy (While You Were Sleeping)
Jang Na Ra (Go Back Couple)

Best Actor (Long Drama)

Kim Kang Woo (My Husband Oh Jak Doo)
Kim Ji Hoon (The Rich Son)
Song Chang Eui (The Secret of My Love)
Jang Seung Jo (Money Flower)
Jo Hyun Jae (Let Me Introduce Her)

Best Actress (Long Drama)

Nam Sang Mi (Let Me Introduce Her)
Park Se Young (Money Flower)
Wang Bit Na (Mystery Personal Shopper)
UEE (My Husband Oh Jak Doo)
Jo Boa (Goodbye to Goodbye)

Best Supporting Actor

Park Ho San (My Ahjusshi)
Bae Sung Woo (Live)
Yoo Jae Myung (Life)
Choi Gwi Hwa (Suits)
Heo Joon Ho (To Embrace)

Best Supporting Actress

Go Sung Hee (Mother)
Kim Min Jung (Mr. Sunshine)
Ra Mi Ran (The Miracle We Met)
Seo Jung Yeon (Pretty Noona Who Buys Me Food)
Jang So Yeon (Pretty Noona Who Buys Me Food)

Best New Actor

Kim Myung Soo (Miss Hammurabi)
Kim Min Jae (The Great Seducer)
Yang Se Jong (Temperature of Love)
Woo Do Hwan (Mad Dog)
Jang Ki Yong (My Mister)

Best New Actress

Kim Tae Ri (Mr. Sunshine)
Won Jin Ah (Just Between Lovers)
Lee Sun Bin (Sketch)
Lee Yoo Young (Your Honor)
Jin Ki Joo (Misty)

K-star / Korean star (male)

Park Seo Joon (Why Secretary Kim)
Yang Se Jong (Temperature of Love)
Lee Dong Wook (Life)
Lee Byung Hun (Mr. Sunshine)
Lee Jong Suk (While You Were Sleeping)
Jung Hae In (Pretty Noona Who Buys Me Food)

K-star / Korean star (female)

Kim Min Jung (Mr. Sunshine)
Kim Tae Ri (Mr. Sunshine)
Park Min Young (Why Secretary Kim)
Bae Suzy (While You Were Sleeping)
Son Ye Jin (Pretty Noona Who Buys Me Food)
IU (My Ahjusshi)


Comments

Popular Dramas and High Profile Stars Like Lee Byung Hun and Son Ye Jin Lead 2018 APAN Star Award Nominations — 22 Comments

  1. Rooting for Jung Yu Mi, IU, Kim Tae Ri, Lee Bo Young and Lee Sun Kyun. Abit confuse between to root for Won Jin Ah, or Kim Tae Ri.
    And I root for Go Seung Hee too. So happy she get a nomination.. She has improve so much over the years.

  2. Yess to My Ahjusshi team, and Life on Mars team, also Lee Bo Young for Mother ! I’m so happy they get the recognition they deserve and so do most of the nominees. The daesang contenders are wow.

  3. I hope LSK (My Ahjusshi) will win the Daesang. IU and Jang Ki Yong are also my favs. JKY actually has two dramas this year (My Ahjusshi and Come & Hug Me). 🙂

  4. The nominees are much better than in Korea Drama Awards. Hope JSW win the daesang, but it’s so tight, tough. Lee seon-gyun also so good in My Ahjussi

  5. Yes…Lee Seon Kyun for the daesang!!!! No other actor pulled off a stronger performance than LSK this year. Not even close. I really hope My Ajusshi will win big this time.

    On another note, Lee Dong Wook over Lee Jun Ki???? Really? LDW was bad in “Life”. It was especially jarring when he shared the same screen with JSW. And yet he earned a nomination? I can’t comprehend this.

    • @alexa .Lee Jun Ki is known for being unlucky in award ceremonies ?.We have seen it happen over and over again?.But I think he didnt get nominated because he already won the APAN Top Best Actor Award back in 2013 for “Two Weeks”.I have never seen them give the same award twice to the same actor.They are not going to give him the lower award because that mean he would be in the same category with Jung Hae In and the others.So imagine if for example Jung Hae In won over LJK.There would be some backlash because of their respective drama’s ratings and acting wise(no comparison).But also one of APAN’s main organisers is TVN.So maybe they reach their quota of drama and artist submissions.See how many nominees are from TVN drama.

    • But yeah Lee Don Wook did much better in Goblin than in Life.Lee Jong Suk too is (?) he was better in W than While You were Sleeping.But overall this one is much berrer than the Korean Drama Awards.They try to pick from every station and aeard the nominations to those who really deserve a nod.But again why is Lee Hye Young being sidelines for “Mother”

  6. Oh, Won Jin A for best new actress, definitely! She was wonderful in Just Between Lovers.

    And Lee Bo Young deserves every possible award for Mother. That was a life performance.

  7. My personal vote:
    Lee Sun Gyun for Daesang(My Ahjussi)
    Jung Kyung Ho for Top Best Actor (Life on Mars)-Short Drama
    Lee Bo Young for Top Best Actress (Mother)- Short Drama
    Jang Hyuk for Top Best Actor(Money Flower)- Long Drama
    Shin Hye Sun for Top Best Actress( Golden Life)- Long Drama
    Yoo Yoon Seok for Best Actor (Mr Sunshine) – Short Drama
    Park Mi Young for Best Actress (Why Secretary Kim)- Short Drama
    Park Ho San for Best Supporting Actor (My Ahjussi)
    Ra Mi Ran for Best Supporting Actress (Miracle We Met)
    Jang Ki Young/ Woo Do Hwan for Best New Actor (Mad Dog/ My Ahjussi)
    Won Jin Ah for Best New Actress (Just Between Lovers)

    • Well, I agree with most except:

      Jung Yumi over Lee Bo Young
      Park Hyung Sik over Yoo Yeon Suk (this is slightly bias ?)
      Jang Nara over Park Min Young
      Kim Tae Ri over Won Jin Ah
      Jang Ki Yong isn’t suppose to share with Woo Do Hwan. WDH is not same level with JKY at all.

      • I agree with most of @RubyRed and @Alexa. I think Jang Nara’s acting in GBS is more superior than PMY although I like PMY a lot too. JKY is definitely more superior than WDH in terms of acting range if you take Come and Hug Me into consideration but this drama is not mentioned in his nomination. I hope JKY can get more recognition with an award. He is a gem 🙂

      • Hey, JKY is also in GBS (he has a crush on Jang Nara in college)… almost forgot… he is such a hard worker… my bias… hehe….

      • Jang Ki Yong is my fave rookie actor. I put him a level above WDH because he has proven his worth and potential as a leading man in “Come and Hug Me”. While WDH was pretty good in “Mad Dog” and “Save Me”, he was as bad as Joy in “The Great Seducer”. Unlike JKY, he still could not lead a drama yet.

        GBS is Jang Nara’s best performance so far. Secretary Kim is an easy role, PMY is just mediocre in it.

      • But the script of Great Seducer was really bad and he had Joy for partner, it was a very bad drama. When Come and Hug Me had a good script (kind a repetetive) but the scenes of the couple were boring at the end. The kids were more interesting and for me the big bro had a bigger impact in acting. In Mad Dog, WDH could stand Yoo Ji Tae who is very charismatic.

        For me, they’re both good.

      • Jang Nara was awesome in go back couple. I hope she wins. I think in the whole group of nominees, jang nara showed the most range in her drama.

        I like go ah sung in life on mars, but imo its not her time to win yet.

        Though PMY will likely walk away with the award based on her popularity.

  8. The nominations are better 🙂

    So many actors deserved to win, it was a good year for dramas.

    I don’t understand why While you were sleeping is here…

  9. I need jung kyung ho to win top best actor for life on mars! He was super awesome in life on mars. He deserves all the recognition he can get. Besides i think he also deserves best actor/ supporting actor for prison playbook. He was awesome in that too. 2018 is a great year for JKH. Hope he shines more in the future~

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