The 2021 Korea Popular Culture and Arts Awards  
Youn Yuh-jung received the Highest Order of Merit

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (Minister HWANG Hee, MCST) hosted the 2021 Korea Popular Culture and Arts Awards in collaboration with the Korea Creative Content Agency (President JO Hyun-rae, KOCCA) on Thursday October 28. The ceremony was livestreamed via The K-Pop Youtube Channel (The K-POP) and KOCCA official Youtube channel for online audience. 

Marking the 12^th year of the award ceremony, the annual state-run award was established in 2010 to pay tribute to singers, actors, writers, and performers who have promoted in the field of Korean pop culture and the arts.

Actress Youn Yuh-Jung received Korea Popular Culture and Arts Awards ‘Highest Order of Merit’ (Geumgwan). Youn was the first actress to win the Oscar for her good performance in the movie “Minari”. MCST had selected the 29 final nominees for the different category of awards considering the elements of time devoted in the culture and performers’ reputation in the area. Youn was the first Korean actor to win Geumgwan order, the highest in the category. There were no recipients in the Geumgwan Order category (the highest recognition) in the pop culture awards.

The legendary folk singer Lee Jang-hee and late film producer Lee Chun-yeon also received the second highest order of Culture merit, the Eungwan. Actor Park In-Hwan, who recently starred in the well-known drama, “Navillera” and screen writer Noh Hee-Kyung were also names as the recipients in the next highest medal, the Bogwan.

There were seven recipients of Presidential Commendations this year, including actor Jung Woo-sung and Kim Yeong-cheol, and singer Kim Yon-ja, who had long been contributing in the field of Korean pop industry. Nine winners received the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Commendation – singer NCT Dream and Oh My Girl, actors Lee Jae-hoon and Oh Jung-se, comedian Ahn Young-mi, and voice actress Choi Duk-hee. To congratulate the 12^th award ceremony, various singers, who won the awards performed on the stage.