The Korea Drama Awards () is an awards ceremony for excellence in television in South Korea. It was established in 2007, and is held annually in October in Jinju, South Gyeongsang Province as the official main event of the annual Korea Drama Festival (which was launched a year ago). The eligibility period is October of the previous year to September of the current year. Nominees are chosen from Korean dramas that aired on the three major broadcasting networks (KBS, MBC and SBS) and cable channels.
The 2009 ceremony was cancelled due to the swine flu pandemic. The 2020 and 2021 ceremonies were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 2023 ceremony was held on October 14, 2023, as an event of Korea Drama Festival at Gyeongnam Culture and Arts Center, Grand Performance Hall, Jinju. It was hosted by Gong Seo-young and Park Chan-min. Rocket Punch and pop singer Go Hyun-joo gave congratulatory performances. The grand prize was awarded to Lee Sung-min for Shadow Detective 2 and The Glory won the best drama award.
Ceremonies Edition Date 1st Korea Drama Awards 2007 2nd Korea Drama Awards November 1, 2008 3rd Korea Drama Awards October 2, 2010 4th Korea Drama Awards October 2, 2011 5th Korea Drama Awards October 2, 2012 6th Korea Drama Awards October 2, 2013 7th Korea Drama Awards October 1, 2014 8th Korea Drama Awards October 9, 2015 9th Korea Drama Awards October 7, 2016 10th Korea Drama Awards October 2, 2017 11th Korea Drama Awards October 2, 2018 12th Korea Drama Awards October 2, 2019 13th Korea Drama Awards October 8, 2022 14th Korea Drama Awards October 14, 2023 15th Korea Drama Awards October 12, 2024 16th Korea Drama Awards October 11, 2025 17th Korea Drama Awards October 10, 2026
Categories
Grand Prize (Daesang) Best Drama Best Production Director Best Screenplay Top Excellence Award, Actor Top Excellence Award, Actress Excellence Award, Actor Excellence Award, Actress Best Supporting Actor Best Supporting Actress Best New Actor Best New Actress Best Young Actor/Actress Best Original Soundtrack Special Jury Prize
Grand Prize (Daesang) No.YearRecipientDrama 1 2007 Kim Hee-ae My Husband's Woman Yoo Dong-geun Yeon Gaesomun 2 2008 Kim Myung-min Beethoven Virus 3 2010 4 2011 Secret Garden 5 2012 Kim Nam-joo My Husband Got a Family 6 2013 Lee Bo-young I Can Hear Your Voice, Seoyoung, My Daughter 7 2014 Kim Soo-hyun My Love from the Star 8 2015 Kim Soo-hyun The Producers 9 2016 Kim So-yeon Happy Home 10 2017 Kim Sang-joong The Rebel 11 2018 Yoo Dong-geun Marry Me Now 12 2019 Choi Soo-jong My Only One 13 2022 Ha Jung-woo Narco-Saints 14 2023 Lee Sung-min Shadow Detective 2 15 2024 Lee Hanee Knight Flower162025Ahn Jae-wookFor Eagle Brothers
Best Drama No.YearRecipient 1 2007 Jumong 2 2008 Mom's Dead Upset 3 2010 The Slave Hunters 4 2011 5 2012 My Husband Got a Family 6 2013 Seoyoung, My Daughter 7 2014 My Love from the Star 8 2015 Misaeng 9 2016 Descendants of the Sun102017 The Emperor: Owner of the Mask Guardian: The Lonely and Great God 11 2018 Marry Me Now 12 2019 Sky Castle 13 2022 Extraordinary Attorney Woo 14 2023 The Glory 15 2024 Queen of Tears162025Our Movie
Best Director No.YearRecipientDrama 1 2007 Kim Byung-wook Unstoppable High Kick! 2 2008 colspan=2 3 2010 Kim Kyu-tae (Miniseries) Iris Lee Jung-sub (Serial Drama) Bread, Love and Dreams 4 2011 Kim Won-seok Sungkyunkwan Scandal 5 2012 Jang Tae-yoo Deep Rooted Tree 6 2013 Jo Soo-won I Can Hear Your Voice 7 2014 Shin Won-ho Reply 1994 8 2015 Seo Soo-min and Pyo Min-soo The Producers 9 2016 Kim Jin-min Marriage Contract 10 2017 Lee Jang-soo Good Manager 11 2018 colspan=2 12 2019 colspan=2 13 2022 Park Joon-hwa Alchemy of Souls 14 2023 Ahn Gil-ho The Glory152024colspan=2
Best Screenplay No.YearRecipientDrama 1 2007 2 2008 3 2010 Chun Sung-il (Miniseries) The Slave Hunters Kang Eun-kyung (Serial Drama) Bread, Love and Dreams 4 2011 Kim Eun-sook Secret Garden 5 2012 Park Ji-eun My Husband Got a Family 6 2013 Park Jae-bum Good Doctor 7 2014 Jung Hyun-min Jeong Do-jeon 8 2015 Jang Hyuk-rin Yong-pal 9 2016 Noh Hee-kyung Dear My Friends 10 2017 Park Hye-jin The Emperor: Owner of the Mask 11 2018 Park Pil-joo Marry Me Now 12 2019 Jo Jung-sun Mother of Mine 13 2022colspan=2
Top Excellence Award, Actor No.YearRecipientDrama 1 2007 Kim Sang-joong My Husband's Woman 2 2008 Choi Soo-jong Dae Jo-yeong 3 2010 Jang Hyuk The Slave Hunters 4 2011 Lee Min-ho City Hunter 5 2012 Kim Sang-joong The Chaser 6 2013 Jung Woong-in I Can Hear Your Voice Lee Jung-jin A Hundred Year Legacy 7 2014 Kim Jae-joong Triangle 8 2015 Lee Jong-suk Pinocchio92016 Ahn Jae-hyun Cinderella and Four Knights Jang Hyun-sung The Doctors102017 Kim Ji-seok The Rebel Kwon Yul Whisper 11 2018 Kam Woo-sung Should We Kiss First? 12 2019 Kim Dong-wook Special Labor Inspector 13 2022 Kim Bum Ghost Doctor 14 2023 Oh Jung-se Revenant152024Ji Seung-hyunKorea-Khitan War162025Yook Sung-jaeThe Haunted Palace
Top Excellence Award, Actress No.YearRecipientDrama 1 2007 2 2008 Kim Ha-neul On Air 3 2010 Han Hyo-joo Dong Yi 4 2011 Yum Jung-ah Royal Family 5 2012 Han Ji-min Rooftop Prince 6 2013 Jo Yoon-hee Nine: Nine Time Travels 7 2014 Oh Yeon-seo Jang Bo-ri is Here! 8 2015 Kim Tae-hee Yong-pal 9 2016 Baek Jin-hee My Daughter, Geum Sa-wol 10 2017 Lee Ha-nui The Rebel 11 2018 Wang Bit-na Mysterious Personal Shopper 12 2019 Kim Min-jung My Fellow Citizens! 13 2022 Shin Hyun-been Reflection of You 14 2023 Kim Sun-a Queen of Masks152024Go Min SiSweet Home 2162025Park Bo-youngOur Unwritten Seoul
Excellence Award, Actor No.YearRecipientDrama 1 2007 2 2008 Kim Rae-won Gourmet 3 2010 4 2011 5 2012 Lee Hee-joon My Husband Got a Family Kwak Do-won Phantom 6 2013 Lee Jong-suk I Can Hear Your Voice Kim Dong-wan Cheer Up, Mr. Kim! 7 2014 Lee Kwang-soo It's Okay, That's Love 8 2015 Lee Joon Heard It Through the Grapevine Kim Dae-myung Misaeng 9 2016 Jo Jae-yoon Descendants of the Sun102017 Jeon No-min The Emperor: Owner of the Mask Min Jin-woong My Father is Strange112018 Hwang Chan-sung What's Wrong with Secretary Kim On Joo-wan Man in the Kitchen122019 Kang Ki-young At Eighteen Lee Kyu-hyung Doctor John 13 2022 Lee Ki-woo My Liberation Notes142023 Kim Sung-kyun D.P. 2 Lee Sang-yi Bloodhounds152024Yim Si-wanBoyhood162025Lee Hyun-wookThe Queen Who Crowns, Shark: The Storm
Excellence Award, Actress No.YearRecipientDrama 1 2007 2 2008 Han Ji-hye Likeable or Not 3 2010 4 2011 5 2012 Song Seon-mi Golden Time 6 2013 Seo Hyun-jin Here Comes Mr. Oh 7 2014 Kang So-ra Doctor Stranger 8 2015 Choi Soo-young My Spring Days 9 2016 Park Se-young My Daughter, Geum Sa-wol102017 Lee Il-hwa Good Manager Song Ha-yoon Fight for My Way 11 2018 Chae Jung-an Suits 12 2019 Lee Se-young The Crowned Clown 13 2022 Jeon So-min Show Window: The Queen's House 14 2023 Kim Ji-eun Longing for You152024Jung Ryeo-WonThe Midnight Romance in Hagwon162025Kim Ji-yeonThe Haunted Palace
Best Supporting Actor No.YearRecipientDrama 1 2007 2 2008 3 2010 Jung Dong-hwan Dong Yi 4 2011 Joo Sang-wook Giant 5 2012 6 2013 7 2014 8 2015 9 2016 10 2017 11 2018 12 2019 13 2022 Park Ho-san Today's Webtoon 14 2023 Ahn Se-ha King the Land
Best Supporting Actress No.YearRecipientDrama 1 2007 2 2008 3 2010 Kim Hae-sook Life Is Beautiful 4 2011 Lee Yoo-ri Twinkle Twinkle 5 2012 6 2013 7 2014 8 2015 9 2016 10 2017 11 2018 12 2019 13 2022 Hwang Bo-ra Kiss Sixth Sense 14 2023 So Joo-yeon Dr. Romantic 3
Best New Actor No.YearRecipientDrama 1 2007 2 2008 3 2010 Yoon Shi-yoon Bread, Love and Dreams 4 2011 Kim Soo-hyun Dream High 5 2012 Seo In-guk Reply 1997 6 2013 Park Seo-joon Pots of Gold Yong Jun-hyung Monstar 7 2014 Ahn Jae-hyun My Love from the Star Seo Kang-joon Cunning Single Lady 8 2015 Park Chanyeol Exo Next Door 9 2016 Seo Ha-joon The Flower in Prison 10 2017 Yook Sung-jae Guardian: The Lonely and Great God 11 2018 Cha Eun-woo Gangnam Beauty 12 2019 Ong Seong-wu At Eighteen 13 2022 Kim Do-hoon Today's Webtoon 14 2023 Park Ji-hoon Weak Hero Class 1 15 2024 Lee Si-woo Boyhood Baek Seo-hoo Miss Night and Day162025Choo Young-wooThe Tale of Lady Ok, Head Over HeelsHeo Nam-junWhen the Phone Rings, When the Stars Gossip
Best New Actress No.YearRecipientDrama 1 2007 2 2008 3 2010 Seo Woo Cinderella's Sister 4 2011 Im Soo-hyang New Tales of Gisaeng 5 2012 Yoon Jin-yi A Gentleman's Dignity 6 2013 BoA Waiting for Love 7 2014 Min Do-hee Reply 1994 8 2015 Lim Ji-yeon High Society 9 2016 Kim Sae-ron Mirror of the Witch 10 2017 Ko Won-hee Strongest Deliveryman 11 2018 Seo Eun-soo My Golden Life 12 2019 Kwon Nara Doctor Prisoner 13 2022 Bae Woo-hee A Business Proposal Bona Twenty-Five Twenty-One 14 2023 Lee Yeon Delightfully Deceitful 15 2024 Kang Hye-won Boyhood162025Chung Su-binFriendly RivalryHong Hwa-yeonBuried Hearts, Tastefully Yours, I Am a Running Mate
Best Young Actor/Actress No.YearRecipientDrama 1 2007 2 2008 3 2010 4 2011 5 2012 Kwak Dong-yeon My Husband Got a Family 6 2013 Kal So-won The Secret of Birth 7 2014 Kim Ji-young Jang Bo-ri is Here! 8 2015 9 2016
Best Original Soundtrack No.YearRecipientDrama 1 2007 2 2008 3 2010 4 2011 Huh Gak – "Don't Forget Me" The Greatest Love 5 2012 Lyn – "Back in Time" Moon Embracing the Sun 6 2013 4Men – "Only You" Gu Family Book 7 2014 Ailee – "Goodbye My Love" Fated to Love You 8 2015 Jang Jae-in – "Auditory Hallucination" Kill Me, Heal Me 9 2016 Insooni – "It's Okay Because I Am A Mom" 10 2017 DinDin – "Must Be The Money" Good Manager 11 2018 Monday Kiz – "The Person Within Me" Marry Me Now 12 2019 Ha Jin - "We All Lie" Sky Castle 15 2024 Kim Tae-rae (Zerobaseone) – "More Than Enough" Queen of Tears162025Young Tak – "An Unknown Life"For Eagle Brothers
Special Jury Prize No.YearRecipientDrama 1 2007 2 2008 Kim Hae-sook First Wives' Club 3 2010 Kim Byung-wook High Kick Through the Roof 4 2011 5 2012 Lee Hee-joon My Husband Got a Family Queen Insoo 6 2013 7 2014 8 2015 Yim Si-wan Misaeng 9 2016 So Yoo-jin Five Enough 10 2017
Most Popular Actor No.YearRecipientDrama 1 2007 Kim Dong-wook Coffee Prince Kim Jae-wook Lee Eon Lee Han-wi 2 2008 Kim Bum East of Eden 3 2010 Jung Yong-hwa You're Beautiful 4 2011 Kim Soo-hyun Dream High 5 2012 6 2013 7 2014 8 2015 9 2016 10 2017
Most Popular Actress No.YearRecipientDrama 1 2007 2 2008 Im Yoona You're My Destiny Kim Hee-jung First Wives' Club Kim Hyun-sook Rude Miss Young-ae – Season 3 3 2010 Hwang Jung-eum High Kick Through the Roof 4 2011 5 2012 6 2013 7 2014 8 2015 9 2016 10 2017
Best Couple Award No.YearRecipientDrama 1 2007 2 2008 3 2010 4 2011 5 2012 Seo In-guk and Jung Eun-ji Reply 1997 6 2013 Lee Jong-suk and Lee Bo-young I Can Hear Your Voice 7 2014 Kim Sung-kyun and Min Do-hee Reply 1994 8 2015 9 2016 10 2017 15 2024 Kim Soo-hyun and Kim Ji-won Queen of Tears 16 2025 Lee Hye-ri and Chung Su-bin Friendly Rivalry
Hallyu Star Award No.YearRecipientDrama 1 2007 2 2008 Bae Yong-joon The Legend 3 2010 4 2011 Lee Min-ho City Hunter 5 2012 6 2013 7 2014Kim Soo-hyun My Love from the Star82015 The ProducersPark ChanyeolExo Next Door 9 2016 Han Seung-yeon Hello, My Twenties!102017 Kwon Mina Hospital Ship Park Gyu-ri Lovers in Bloom112018 Hwang Chan-sung What's Wrong with Secretary Kim Cha Eun-woo Gangnam Beauty 12 2019 Ong Seong-wu At Eighteen
Lifetime Achievement Award No.YearRecipientDrama 1 2007 Lee Soon-jae High Kick! 2 2008 Baek Il-seob Mom's Dead Upset 3 2010 Lee Byung-hoon Dong Yi 4 2011 colspan=2 5 2012 colspan=2 6 2013 colspan=2 7 2014 colspan=2 8 2015 Kim Young-ae 9 2016 Im Dong-jin The Jingbirok: A Memoir of Imjin War 10 2017 Dal Soon's Spring112018Kim Young-okRich Family's Son 12 2019 Jung Dong-hwan Hotel Del Luna 13 2022 Choi Bool-am 14 2023 Kil Yong-woo 152024 Byun Hee-bong 162025Kim Yong-rim
Other Awards