The nominees for the television and film categories of the 54th Baeksang Arts Awards were announced yesterday. For the TV category, a total of 17 dramas have been nominated with tvN’s Secret Forest receiving the most number of nominations, at six. The critically acclaimed series competes against tvN’s Mother, JTBC’s Misty, and KBS2’s Fight For My Way and My Golden Life for the Best Drama award. Unlike in the previous years, no MBC and SBS drama was nominated for the said award this year.

The Best Director nominees include Kim Yoon-chul (Woman of Dignity), Kim Cheol-kyu (Mother), Mo Wan-il (Misty), Shin Won-ho (Prison Playbook), and Ahn Gil-ho (Secret Forest). For the Best Screenwriter award, Baek Mi-kyung (Woman of Dignity), Lee Soo-yeon (Secret Forest), Im Sang-choon (Fight For My way), Jung Bo-hoon (Prison Playbook), and Chung Seo-kyung (Mother) are the contenders.

The nominees for the Best Actor award are Kim Sang-joong (Rebel: Thief Who Stole the People), Park Seo-joon (Fight My Way), Jang Hyuk (Money Flower), Cho Seung-woo (Secret Forest), and Chun Ho-jin (My Golden Life). Meanwhile, Kim Nam-joo (Misty), Kim Sun-ah (Woman of Dignity), Kim Hee-sun (Woman of Dignity), Shin Hye-sun (My Golden Life), and Lee Bo-young (Mother) vie for the Best Actress award.

This year, the Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress awards have been added to the television category. The nominees for the Best Supporting Actor are Park Ho-san (Prison Playbook), Bong Tae-gyu (Return), Ahn Jae-hong (Fight For My Way), Yoo Jae-myung (Secret Forest), and Jung Sang-hoon (Woman of Dignity).

For the Best Supporting Actress, the nominees are Na Young-hee (My Golden Life), Ra Mi-ran (Avengers Social Club), Song Ha-yoon (Fight For My Way), Ye Ji-won (Should We Kiss First), and Jeon Hae-jin (Misty).

The nominees for Best New Actor are Kim Jung-hyun (School 2017), Park Hae-soo (Prison Playbook), Yang Se-jong (Temperature of Love), Woo Do-hwan (Save Me), and Lee Kyu-hyung (Secret Forest). For Best New Actress, the nominees are Dasom (Sister is Alive), Kim Se-jeong (School 2017), Seo Eun-soo (My Golden Life), Won Jin-ah (Just Between Lovers), and Heo Yool (Mother).

The recipient of the Grand Prize and the Popular Actor and Actress awards will be determined through voting which will open from April 10 to April 27, 2018 (midnight, Korean time).

Four dramas received 5 nominations each, namely: Mother, Fight For My Way, My Golden Life, and Woman of Dignity. Meanwhile, Misty and Prison Playbook have four nominations each.

The 54th Baeksang Arts Awards will take place on May 3, 2018, at the COEX Convention & Exhibition Center in Seoul, with JTBC as the host network just like last year. This year’s nominees reflect the opinions of a wider range of people in the broadcast and film industry. The nominees were selected by 14 judges based on the initial review of the preliminary candidate evaluation team which consists of 40 people including directors, writers, and production company representatives.

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