2023 Baeksang Awards Nominations Fete the Extraordinarily Strong Lineup of Hit Dramas and Strong Performances with Only a Few Notable Misses

So the Baeksang Awards nominations came out today for the 2023 ceremony and I am very very pleased with it. The supporting and new star awards in the TV categories capture all the buzzed about roles and performances so I will focus on the three most prominent categories – Best Drama, Best Actor, and Best Actress. Best Drama nods went to My Liberation Notes, Our Blues, The Glory, Little Women, and Extraordinary Attorney Woo, leaving out the highest rated cable drama of the year Reborn Rich. That polarizing ending really did it in lol. Best Actor nods went to Son Seok Kyu, Lee Byung Hun, Lee Sung Min, Jung Kyung Ho, and Choi Min Sik, and honestly I’m fine with this line up but Jung Kyung Ho in a frothy role over Song Joong Ki anchoring such a talked about hit dramas seems like a toss-up choice to me. Best Actress has lined up Song Hye Kyo, Kim Hye Soo, Suzy, Park Eun Bin, and Kim Ji Won, and like all the pundits are guessing it’s the tightest race between Song Hye Kyo and Park Eun Bin.


Comments

2023 Baeksang Awards Nominations Fete the Extraordinarily Strong Lineup of Hit Dramas and Strong Performances with Only a Few Notable Misses — 68 Comments

  1. I love both Song Hye Kyo and Park Eun Bin. Both were great and both had great supporting casts. Both are winners to me but I know one goes home with the award. Fighting!

  2. Well Jung Kyung Ho really does better in acting and I really happy for him and he really deserve the nomination. Finally after long career.His acting in CCIC is really good. Compare to SJK who is lacking in immersion.

    I don’t think the ending of RR is that impactfull since the ending of sky castle is also getting hated by netizen, but the director and writers is still get nominated.

  3. Nice to see My Liberation Notes nab a bunch of nominations, but I’m confounded by Lee Min Ki getting shut out of recognition. He was the strongest actor in MLN and his character had the best development arc too.

  4. In the female actor category I’m mostly satisfied, I enjoyed the performance of the five. PEB and SHK are the two obvious favorite candidates. KHS is always good. KJW gave so much feelings with such a quiet character, and Suzy was such a pleasant surprise, I first hoped to like her acting and ended up loving her acting and waiting for her next job.

    There’s also KGE. If there would be 6 nominee, she for sure would be the sixth. She did espectacular, as much as this 5 nominee and I hope her fans don’t start to send hate to KJW or Suzy (I don’t think they would dare to say that she deserves better than SHK, PEB or KHS cause of their popularity or seniority)

  5. Frankly, there’s no real competition between SHK and PEB. SHK’s performance was fantastic from her standards. PEB’s, on the other hand, was fantastic from just about anyone’s standards. If anything, I’d say it’s KSH who should be giving PEB a run for her money.

    As for SJK, he wasn’t exactly the anchor of Reborn Rich. That would be Lee Sung Min who really was the heart and soul of that drama. Generally, rom-coms don’t get as much of a nod, so happy to see JKH in there.

    I hope they release the panel votes like they did in the past. That would be interesting as the competition is tight for most of these.

    • I agree with this comment on comparing the 2 actresses: SHK and PEB. PEB is a more versatile actress who can convincingly play a character with skilled acting, as in the autistic Atty. Woo, whereas SHK has one kind of facial expression that she has worn similarly in the roles she has played in several dramas. The role she played in The Glory suited that same facial expression. She did well but not extraordinarily out of her usual.

  6. Through the darkness ? Kim Nam Gil ? Lee Min Ki as a best supporting actor ? ( My liberation notes ), … Jung Kyung Ho is a good actor but hir role wasn’t a challenging one , in this case, they should have nominated Jun Do Yun even if her role was a basic one . Yoo Sun ?

    • I don’t think in order to act as mentor matematician naturally he has to ace at least some difficult matematic is not challenging at all, though. A least you to at least have to learn to convince audience you are no 1 mentor in his field.

    • KNG was nominated in last year’s Baeksangs. Lee Min Ki wasn’t really in a supporting role. And Yoo Sun? For what? Eve?!

      • Eve was a BIG mess but Yoo Sun was a really psycho . it’s my point of view . I didn’t remember that KNG was nominated last year, so mea culpa ! As for Lee Min ki he impressed me in this role , and if Lee El is nominated for the female category, why not him in the male one . After all, they were brother and sisters and all ace their role .

  7. Pingback: 2023 Baeksang Awards Nominations Fete the Extraordinarily Strong Lineup of Hit Dramas and Strong Performances with Only a Few Notable Misses – Parlour Digital

  8. I have watched all the best actress nominees’ dramas and I dare to say that SHK and Suzy is my top choice. Their acting in The Glory and ANNA respectively is so nuance and constrained throughout the drama. This grey character where they are the criminals but feels so humane that it makes you root for them is the best. it’s too bad that ANNA wasn’t well distributed and it makes people don’t know how great suzy’s acting there. Btw a sweet surprise to see KJW too. For PEB and KHS, I already expected these two will be nominated 😃

  9. Song Joong Ki’s pursed lips acting was embarrassing and heavily criticized. He was out acted by everyone in the drama, including the child actor. Baeksang is the most prestigious and credible award in Korea for a reason. They didn’t give him a nomination just because the drama did well.

    • I never even read any bad comment about of his acting in RR? And he was only outacted by Lee Sung Min. SJK certainly performed better than Jung Kyung Ho who probably got “long overdue” nomination in time that he finally headlining a really hit drama. You obviously being hateful on SJK for nothing.

      • There is some bad comment in Youtube channel for korean netizen in korean language for SJK. They complain about SJK lack of immersion. And i agree. All of his worshipers won’t dare to critics him. He even get outacted by Shin Hyun Been Imo, and to think SHB lack screen time lol.

        There is nothing to write about in his previous roles vincenzo either, but at least he bring sincerity to his performances and he care. But in here his performances is very underwhelming.

      • There were tonnes of criticism on his acting in Korean forums. His character can have lots of layers and complexity but all he did was try to act young with that stupid pursed lips gesture. RR got the second highest ratings in cable history and a lot of buzz during its run. Normally this bags a Baeksang nomination for the lead even if the performance was just average. He was that bad. And it’s not because one drama can only have one nomination per category. See nominations for best actress in 2019 and other categories this year.

    • There is a reason for which people are criticising sjk and we all know that reason. But sjk’s charcters was that only. He was playing 90s college boy and has nothing to do more. The character were that much only. People compare his characters with Lee sung min’s which is incomparable. They were 2 different people. It’s not that if Lee sung min would have played jin do Jun he would have done better ur sjk played grandpa he must be terrific.

      • I have a lot of love for SJK but I agree the character of Do Jun wasn’t his best. However, his doppelganger the secretary (forget his name), now THAT was an excellent & poignant portrayal. Very frustrating that we only got to see what sjk really can do in the first & last eps plus a couple of scenes. That repressed anger, despair & frustration, he can deliver such intensity. Pity we got the rich tween instead..

  10. whenever the nomination lists came out, there’ll be always unreasonable fans who’ll said their faves nomination was robbed 🤣 tbh, i expected someone to be nominated in film actress category due to the buzz abt her great acting and beauty, as well as the hype from her fans. but there are NONE. apparently, this proves that media plays and buzz doesn’t always guarantee awards no matter how hard the media play is, like hyping about how great your acting abilities and beauty are. after all the media plays abt her successful netflix and theatre projects, juries don’t agree with you. but the audacity of her fans to say PEB, KTR, LSY, KHS and HSH robbed her nomination last year. and now they did it again with the best actress in film category this year, and they calling it as a bullsh*t? they need to wake up for real. her acting is still isn’t up to baeksang level yet and still far from the film best actress contenders. plus, she isn’t even on par with the film best new actress level. whatever first love, prettiest actress of her generation, best actress of her generation = media play. that’s why next time, be more humble and don’t use media play all the time. fans also shouldn’t use that media play as an opportunity to belittle others. it’ll just disappointed the fans. well, they already did and blamed the juries. i don’t want to mention who that actress is. if you know then you know.

    • Yeah, I think I know who you mean lol, her fandom really is the most toxic, arrogant fandom in all of kdrama and that’s why karma always works and their arrogance ALWAYS backfires, be it that their girl ends up in a low-rating drama or her not getting Baeksang nomination lmao 😁

      The sheer AUDACITY to even suggest she’s better than the likes of KTR and PEB when all she does is wail and overact lol 😂
      But what are we expecting? the fact that her fans think she’s the prettiest and best actress of her generation shows they have low standards in everything so it’s not surprising her fans think crying her eyes out and wailing like a child equals great acting. Well, the prestigious Baeksang sure disagrees 😂😂😂

    • lol the delusion is REAL in that fandom it’s actually insane how delusional they are. i don’t even see their fave being hyped as this great actress, only inside their delusional fandom. while her peers are getting prestigious awards left and right, their fave is getting absolutely none haha
      i’m having fun watching them cry

      • @Bubble Them being known as the most toxic KDrama fandom is a huge clue already lol they have beef with literally every other KDrama actress fandom because they’re toxic like that.
        More hints: the actress had a 1% rating drama in like 2018, then her next drama was controversial because of age gap of the leads and alleged racism (one character seems like a mockery of black people, if I recall correctly), and her last drama underperformed as well, considering it’s on SBS and it was highly anticipated because of the popular source material. She also recently had a Netflix movie and a theater project. She’s supposed to be a big star according to her fans, but she can’t even secure a top billing in her last drama, oops.
        Her next project has a very popular male lead (also labeled as “Son of Netflix”) because she can’t carry her dramas and always needs a popular male lead to carry it.

        Oh, and she’s queen of overacting, but apparently her delulu fans think it’s the epitome of great acting 🤭

    • Even SUZY of all people got a Baeksang Best Actress nomination first before their fave, no wonder that fandom crying 🤣🤣🤣

    • Some people have a habit of pretending their bias is the world and everyone is inferior to them. Not everyone can be the youngest best actress nominee, there’s a reason why some people are more critically acclaimed than others. Talent is talent and it shows even without “ratings” success. Those who have talent can’t be hidden and they don’t need media play. The Baeksang juries are obviously not perfect but that doesn’t mean they are rigged. I was very happy to see Suzy and KJW on the list even though I know the award will go to PEB who also deserves it but thankfully the efforts of KJW and Suzy didn’t go unnoticed. Especially Suzy because Anna was amazing and she gave it her all for the role. I’ve always said even though Suzy isn’t a good actress by a long mile she is one of the most hardworking celebrities I’ve seen. Her growth has been slow but steady and she constantly challenges herself to different roles which exposes her flaws but also is a learning curve for her. I am sad not to see KGE on the list but who would I swap out for her to be on the list? Nobody because everyone earned their place. Its just how competitive the slot is, being nominated itself is huge. Glad to see MLN didn’t get ignored despite airing quite some time ago and not having the hype that the other dramas did. A lot of quiet dramas with high quality have been given the recognition they deserve. This is a great list and while some categories are predictable wins others will have a nail biting finish.

      • @remin I don’t think @kiki is talking about kim go eun (the replies to her comment seem to know who the actress with the delusional fandom is already lol), but it’s still disappointing seeing how go eun fans bring down suzy on twitter just to uplift go eun. i’m not even a suzy fan, but i understand why suzy fans are upset, she’s been labeled as only a pretty face who can’t act for years. now she improved and got nominated in a prestigious award, and go eun fans are downplaying her. just kinda disappointing because i didn’t know go eun fans can be toxic like that. i haven’t watched anna because i only have netflix and hbo subscriptions, but from the snippets i’ve seen, suzy’s acting did improve vastly. i remember cringing at that scene in while you were sleeping where suzy woke up in a hospital and her crying was so fake lol. but the crying scenes in anna that i’ve seen are very nuanced. i love how much she improved. i’d say she deserves the nomination. i hope she improves even more in the future and be a full-blown critically acclaimed actress like iu. she has this likeability about her that makes me root for her.
        anyway, if people think their bias got “robbed”, they can express that without mentioning an actress’s name because that will just encourage people to pit women against other women. this goes to any fandom.
        i agree with you, they all did great and fans should accept that the slots are limited so only those with groundbreaking performances get a nomination.

    • The way I know who that actress is lol
      goes to show how bad her fandom’s reputation is. not even her 1% rating drama and no baeksang nomination even with consistent projects made them humble 🙄
      that fandom needs to eat a big slice of humble pie for real

    • dunno if I was thinking of the right actress, but well I recently just watched her latest movie, and her acting… I’m sorry, but she’s just not a great actress at all. her crying like a child in that restaurant scene is just… no comment, don’t want to be bashed by her fans. Just saying, there’s a reason she’s not a critically acclaimed actress with numerous prestigious acting awards. no wonder all her fans ever brag about are her CFs. her awards are mostly mere popularity awards and mostly from TV networks (which can be bought, as well all know).
      Sorry to her fans, this is just my opinion

      • Why do you all even bother to monitor her career and fandom when you despise her? So much time, huh? Yeah, laugh all you want, but you cannot downgrade her just because of that.

      • @Debbie nobody needs to downgrade her since her fans do a great job of making sure everyone hate her. Their superiority complex since Day 1 is the reason that the fandom is known as the worst fandom. Even Noh Yeon Soo acted circles around her in the movie and in the future will grow to be the much much bigger star. Facts are facts and they are proven every time now go cry in the corner with the rest of your fandom. Even Kim Hye Yoon will tower over her soon and will have 100x better chemistry with her last male lead. No wonder the agency chose Hye Yoon over her.

    • I mean… if she was nominated for that performance, it would’ve been embarrassing for Baeksang… lol she’s one of the only actresses to not have ever been nominated in her age group I believe. Even Suzy got a nomination now. That’s a huge middle finger if I ever saw one 😂

    • Such a useless and toxic comment…

      I have no idea you’re talking about but I don’t care.

      Nobody is saying that another actress deserved it better but just chose among the nominees. So why putting this comment here? You’re just a hater and clearly not better than any other fandoms.

      • ^^ this exactly.

        This victim cosplay is six months too early for Halloween.

      • Lol that fandom is the one downplaying other actresses because their girl never gets nominated in prestigious acting awards. But sure, the people calling that out are the “toxic” ones 🙄
        You’re another one always pretending you’re neutral but you’re obviously very biased towards that actress. I’ve NEVER seen you call out the bullying and shady comments from that fandom towards other actresses m But suddenly you’re crying when other fandoms retaliate and then act holier-than-thou. Lol GTFO 🙄

      • @Sayaris Lol that fandom is the one downplaying other actresses because their girl never gets nominated in prestigious acting awards. But sure, the people calling that out are the “toxic” ones 🙄
        You’re another one who always pretend you’re neutral but you’re obviously very biased towards that actress. I’ve NEVER seen you call out the bullying and shady comments from that fandom towards other actresses. But suddenly, here you are crying when other fandoms retaliate and then act holier-than-thou. Lol GTFO 🙄

      • I mean, other fandoms can be toxic for sure, but no one can top that fandom’s toxicity. At the height of the fanwars around 2016, that fandom even dragged the other actress’s dead father in an argument. Never seen any KDrama fandom act as toxic as that. But okay, keep defending them, you obviously have a bias anyway

      • Its not toxic but a fair reply to how they treat everyone. Don’t dish it if you can’t take it. Besides its facts that have been said and no lies were said. If you don’t care then don’t interfere and pretend to be unbiased. Your comment is toxic and useless just like your personality.

      • @forewan> A fair reply to what?

        @Gtfoo> What commaent of a fandom is downplaying the nominated actresses on this website?

      • @Sayaris – you can’t expect psychotic victim-complex people to see reason. Especially not the kind of people who talk about how other fandoms “deserve to be burned at the stake”.

        You literally said you have no idea who they’re talking about and here’s one nut job insisting you’re “biased” towards the actress they’re talking about lol this would be comedy if it wasn’t actually disturbing.

    • The irony of acting like you and your faves’ fandoms are completely above such behaviour even as you and your replies engage in it lol.

      They’re “the most toxic, arrogant fandom in all of kdrama” (quite an achievement considering a certain male kdrama star’s fans exist) while you’re poor lambs who had to suffer because people called your fave’s previously bad acting…..bad, and your fandoms never ever talked shit or put down other actresses. Amnesia must be nice!

      (my own fave is in the nominees so I have no idea who you’re talking about lol just the hypocrisy is funny)

      • Which Baeksang nominated best actress has ever had bad acting? What amnesia are you talking about? Everyone knows who this undeserving actress with bad acting who her fans always hype up is. Her fans basically dragged every single nominee on this list and every years list which obviously includes your bias as being undeserving and that the awards is rigged since their bias is not nominated. Your hypocrisy is worse since you’re victim blaming. They deserved to be burned at the stake for ALWAYS tearing down other people even without any provocation. You did not see the mess they made on Twitter calling even veterans as undeserving. They think every new young breakout actress or anyone in the age range is inferior to their bias and that Baeksang is blocking her nomination in some way.

      • “Which Baeksang nominated bad actress has ever had bad acting?”

        the comment said PREVIOUSLY bad acting. Not everyone who ever scored a Baeksang nomination has started their careers with Baeksang-level skills. Explaining this in simple terms, If someone was bad at acting in projects other than the one for which they received their Baeksang acting nomination, their getting the Baeksang nomination for one project does not make their bad acting in PREVIOUS projects good, or make criticism of that bad acting in those previous projects into “hate”.

        As for this mentality of “Baeksang Best Actress nomination = merit and everyone should shut up”, I have seen the fandom of at least one of the nominees in this list shitting on previous Baeksang Best Actress nominee Park Shin Hye, calling her acting (for which she was nominated in both tv and movie categories, a total of three times by 2017) bad and bashing her non stop compared to their own fave. Receipts are right here in the comment sections of some previous Koalasplayground posts, not to mention comments of old posts in places like pannchoa, netizenbuzz etc.
        out ofthe current nominees, Song Hye Kyo was nominated for a Baeksang Best Actress award all the way back in 2005, this is her FOURTH acting nomination but her previous recognition didn’t stop kdrama and kpop fans shitting on her acting for years.

        “They deserved to be burned at the stake” – it’s easier to point the finger at others than reflect on yourself but take your victim complex elsewhere and grow up already, this stan war behaviour is pathetic if you’re over the age of 18.
        I’m not keeping up with kdramas for the last few years so I don’t know who this “undeserving actress with bad acting who her fans always hype up” is, but one look at this comment is enough to for me to know your mindset is psychotic, whatever problems you have in your life that cause you to be like this over some celebrity, is a bigger issue than someone getting a nomination or not.

      • I don’t agree that actress and actors who get nominated for a particular project are good only in that one project. Its consistent critical acclaim and nuanced acting over numerous roles that finally lands them that nomination. Like IU in My Ajusshi and HDL doesn’t mean she wasn’t already Baeksang worthy when she did Producers or Moon Lovers. Same for Suzy who has been insanely based by literally everyone. Her acting in WYWS already proved she was ready for Baeksang. Kim Ji Won and Han So Hee also proved with other works before their Baeksang nominations that they were worth the nomination. Same with veteran actors like Park Eun Bun, Park Shin Hye, Seo Hyun Jin and Kim So Hyun who waited years before they landed those nominations but were always working up the acting ladder and receiving strong praise for each role. I can go on and on but the people who earn the Baeksang nomination earn it step by step through persistent hardwork and critical acclaim earned over years and sometimes even decades. I feel most proud of idol actors like Junho, IU and Suzy who made it here despite being written off on day 1 simply for being idols. Unlike people like Kim Tae Ri and Jeong Jeon Soo who were Baeksang faves from debut, not that they didn’t work through countless auditions as unknowns to earn that debut. I hope to see Im Ji Yeon on that best actress list next year and maybe even win it. Also all fandoms kdrama or kpop are extremely toxic and will always be that way. This has been the rule for decades and its not ever going to change. People always hype up their faves no matter how undeserving and drag everyone else to the pits but yes some fandoms do it more than others. I agree Twitter was a mud-slinging mess on announcement day and it was some fandoms who were worse than others but it was hurtful seeing everyone even those not having dramas in the competition year dragging Suzy to the lowest levels of undeserving. That’s harsh and that’s the real definition of toxic.

    • at first I thought this referred to either Seo Yea Ji or Jung So Min, only after reading a lot of the below comments did I realize it was referring to the “Nation’s Little Sister”. I knew her fandom is quite diehard, just didn’t know they were toxic

    • Watched all the drama nominees.

      Song hyekyo stood out the most among the best actress nominees. Her role might be easy on paper but even when she’s nothing but a straight face in the drama with only subtle movements of facial muscles, she’s articulate in in what she needs to communicate. It’s her time now to get the award.

      For Best Actor, I think it will be Lee Sung Min or Son Seo Kyu. Both are outstanding in Reborn Rich and My Liberation Notes.

      I also think that all five nominees in the Best Actors And Actresses category deserves the nominations.

      • I agree about SHK. I’m not a fan of her, I actually thought she’s a terrible actress, especially in her early career days. But she really was a revelation in The Glory, especially in emotional scenes (ie. her scenes where her character confronted her mother, you can really feel the angst, anger, the sadness that she got betrayed by her own mother, and other emotions).
        Wouldn’t be mad if PEB wins tho, both did great

      • I don’t see seo kyu as nominee. Can anyone explain what he did extravagant to get nominated for beksang. His role was not at all difficult.

  11. Daesang will go to Park Eun Bin for me. Then Song Hye Kyo for Best Actress and Lee Sung Min for Best Actor. PEB plays an extraordinary character very well and she deserves that daesang title.

  12. Unpopular opinion but Kim Hye-soo was underwhelming in Under the Umbrella. She was very try-hard when it came to her facial expressions and it seemed more comical than anything. I did not like her acting at all.

  13. PEB was the whole show. The others were more in an ensemble cast.

    The 4 actors from Liberation Notes did very well.

    The Glory wasn’t so good. The second part was pretty disapointing.

    • Yeah that’s why I predict it’ll go to PEB, she deserves it even if my personal favourite is Kim Jiwon for My Liberation Notes.

      Whoever wins, I think it’s safe to say 1992 produced an incredible line of talented leading ladies – several of whom (PEB/KJW ofc, but also Lee Se Young – spent many years in supporting roles before breaking out to lead).

  14. Park Eun Bin deserved to win !
    I don’t think SHK could act like her in Extra Ordinary Attorney Woo but Park Eun Bin would definitely be able to take on SHK’s role in The Glory !

  15. Say whatever you want but PEB acting is the best.her character is very hard to portray. To be able to show emotion as an autistic person is really hard. And she’s the center of that drama. Without her, the storyline feels missing. Whilst SHK, she is great but the other supporting actors/es r top notch in that drama so i don’t miss her much when she’s not in the scene. Kudos for her serious performance but not daesang worthy. I can see other actress will do a better acting than her.

  16. Off-topic, but where did y’all watch Anna? I’m still mad Netflix didn’t take it. Want to watch it so bad 😭

  17. Congrats to all the nominees. Best Actress will undoubtedly go to PEB or SHK (PEB is my choice), but kudos to Suzy for finally proving herself as a competent actress. This nomination alone is a win for her since nobody thought it would ever happen. For her to not only be able to carry her drama, but also, be nominated for Best Actress at the most prestigious award show in South Korea is a true testament to her acting abilities. Some people will never be satisfied, but the rave reviews for her performance in Anna along with this nomination from the actual critics is enough validation.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.