The 62nd Baeksang Arts Awards aired on May 8th and the double Grand Prize win by childhood friends Ryu Seung-ryong and Yoo Hae-jin — who once worked at a bidet factory together as struggling unknowns — turned into a viral emotional moment. The dominance of the blockbuster film *The Man Who Lives with the King* across multiple categories also has Korean internet buzzing.
The 62nd Baeksang Arts Awards, one of Korea's most prestigious annual ceremonies covering film, TV, theater, and musicals, went down on May 8th at COEX Hall D in Gangnam, Seoul — and it delivered some genuinely emotional moments alongside the usual internet chaos.
The biggest story of the night? Longtime friends and former struggling actors Ryu Seung-ryong and Yoo Hae-jin both took home the Grand Prize (Daesang) in their respective categories. Ryu won the TV Grand Prize for his role in the JTBC drama *Director Kim Who Lives in Seoul and Works at a Big Company*, while Yoo Hae-jin swept the Film Grand Prize for the blockbuster *The Man Who Lives with the King* — a historical comedy that became the second highest-grossing Korean film of all time with 17 million tickets sold. In his speech, Ryu got emotional recalling the days he and Yoo used to paste theater posters together in New York and work part-time at a bidet factory in Jochiwon just to survive. Korean internet is absolutely losing it over two guys who once worked at a bidet factory now standing on the biggest stage in Korean entertainment.
The film *The Man Who Lives with the King* dominated the night. Idol-turned-actor Park Ji-hoon, who played the tragic historical figure King Danjong, won both the Best New Actor award and the Popularity Award — a rare double win. On stage, he gave a heartfelt shoutout to director Jang Hang-jun, saying, 'Thank you for believing it had to be me,' and added that he was 'honored to share energy' with his senior co-star (referred to by initials in the original post, widely understood to be Yoo Hae-jin), who blew a kiss back from the audience. Park also mentioned he had been noticeably heavier before filming and was grateful the director stuck with him through it all.
On the directing side, Yoon Ga-eun took home Best Director, leaving Park Chan-wook — the internationally acclaimed director of *Oldboy* and *Decision to Leave* — empty-handed. Korean netizens were quick to notice he looked a little lonely in the audience. Director Jang Hang-jun, who missed out on Best Director despite his film's massive success, received the special 'Gucci Impact Award' instead and joked on stage, 'I was upset about the director prize, but thank you for the big award' — getting a warm laugh from the crowd.
In the acting categories, Park Jung-min took Best Actor and Moon Ga-young took Best Actress. And because this is Korean internet, someone in the comments couldn't resist pointing out that actor Koo Kyo-hwan has a very prominent nose.
🇰🇷 KOREAN REACTIONS 10
Ryu Seung-ryong and Yoo Hae-jin... from pasting posters and working at a bidet factory to standing on the Baeksang stage together. I'm not crying you're crying
GOAT. That's it. That's the comment. (referring to Yoo Hae-jin winning the Grand Prize)
Park Chan-wook looking lonely in the audience... bro directed Oldboy and still can't catch a break at Baeksang lmaooo
Koo Kyo-hwan's nose WHY IS THIS THE MOST IMPORTANT COMMENT HERE
Jang Hang-jun saying 'I was upset about the director prize' on stage is the most real thing anyone has ever said at an awards show
Park Ji-hoon said he was chubby before filming and the director believed in him anyway... okay I'm rooting for him forever now
Yoo Hae-jin: 'I just wanted to make enough to eat.' 17 million tickets later... bro ate.
Yoon Ga-eun winning Best Director is so deserved, she's been criminally underrated for years
The senior actor blowing a kiss back from the audience when Park Ji-hoon thanked him... the chemistry even OFF screen is real
Moon Ga-young Best Actress let's GOOO she's been overdue for this