List of Academy Award winners and nominees from South Korea

This list details South Koreans working in the film industry who have been nominated for, or won, Academy Awards (also known as Oscars). These include artists and filmmakers, both naturalized and diaspora, or South Korean film production companies. North Korea has never sought to participate in the awards due to tensions with the United States and South Korea.

South Koreans had not received any nominations for almost six decades following the inauguration launch of Academy Award, until Christine Choy was nominated in 1988. In 2004, Sejong Park was the second.

In the late 2010s, South Korean consecutive entrants Chang-dong's Burning and Joon-ho's Parasite shortlisted the International Feature Film category: The former became the first to make it to the final nine-film shortlist of the 91st Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film but it didn't make for the nomination. The latter became the first South Korean film to earn a nomination for Best International Feature Film, but not limited to; it also was the first South Korean film to be nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Film Editing, and Best Production Design; it won all the first four including Best Picture.

Out of eleven non-English international films who have been previously nominated for, Parasite is the first non-English language film ever to win Best Picture, established in 2019/2020, emerge a global phenomenon to the new wave of South Korean culture and interests at the start of the 2020s.

Production

Best Picture

Best PictureYearFilmNomineeStatusMilestone / Notes 2019 Parasite Bong Joon-hoKwak Sin-ae First East Asians to win Best Picture.First non-English language film to win Best Picture.2020MinariChristina Oh South Korean-American.

Best Documentary Feature

Documentary FeatureYearNameFilmStatusMilestone / Notes 1988 Christine Choy Who Killed Vincent Chin? Choi is American born of Korean and Chinese descent. 2018 Su Kim Hale County This Morning, This Evening Kim is American born of Korean descent.

Best Documentary Short Subject Documentary Short SubjectYearNameFilmStatusMilestone / Notes 2019 Yi Seung-Jun In the Absence Gary Byung-Seok Kam

Best Animated Feature

Best Animated FeatureYearNameFilmStatusMilestone / Notes2011Jennifer Yuh NelsonKung Fu Panda 2 First woman of color to be nominated for Best Animated Feature category.2023Peter SohnElemental 2025Maggie KangKPop Demon Hunters Shared with Chris Appelhans and Michelle L.M. Wong

Best Animated Short Film Animated Short FilmYearNameFilmStatusMilestone / Notes 2004 Sejong Park Birthday Boy Australian born of Korean descent.2011Minkyu LeeAdam and Dog 2020 Erick Oh Opera American born of Korean descent.

Best International Feature Film

NOTE: In this category is awarded to countries, not individuals. This list contains directors of nominated films, who typically accept the award on behalf of their country. International Feature FilmYearFilmDirectorStatusMilestone / Notes 2019 Parasite(Gisaengchung)기생충 Bong Joon-ho First South Korean film to be nominated for and to win Best Foreign Language Film.

Performance

Best Actor

Actor in a Leading Role Year Name Film Role StatusMilestone / Notes 2020 Jacob Yi First East Asian and Asian American actor to be nominated for Best Actor.

Best Supporting Actress

Actress in a Supporting Role Year Name Film Role StatusMilestone / Notes 2020 Soon-ja First Korean actress to win an acting award.

Craft

Best Director DirectorYearNameFilmStatusMilestone / Notes 2019 Bong Joon-ho Parasite First Korean to be nominated and win.Second director to win for a non-English language film.2020Lee Isaac ChungMinari South Korean-American.

Best Original Screenplay Original ScreenplayYearNameFilmStatusMilestone / Notes 2019 Bong Joon-hoHan Jin-won Parasite First Asian writers to win any screenwriting Academy Award.Oscars: Bong Joon Ho's 'Parasite' Wins South Korea's First Oscar|Hollywood Reporter2020Lee Isaac ChungMinari South Korean-American. 2023 Celine Song Past Lives South Korean-Canadian.

Best Film Editing Film EditingYearNameFilmStatusMilestone / Notes 2019 Yang Jin-mo Parasite

Best Production Design Production DesignYearNameFilmStatusMilestone / Notes 2019 Lee Ha-junCho Won-woo Parasite

Best Original Song Original SongYearNameFilmSongStatusMilestone / Notes 2013 Karen O Her "The Moon Song" American citizen of Polish and South Korean descent2025Ejae24IdoTeddyKPop Demon Hunters"Golden"Shared with Mark Sonnenblick and Ian Eisendrath

References