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Gianna JUN Given President’s Award
LEE Jong-suk, PARK Shin-hye among Prime Minister’s Award Winners
Last Thursday, at the National Theater of Korea in Seoul, top star Gianna JUN was among the seven recipients of the prestigious President’s Award, a government prize given to figures for their contribution to the global dissemination of Korean culture.
Also awarded were film and TV stars LEE Jong-suk and PARK Shin-hye, who each received the Prime Minister’s Award, while veteran actor LEE Duk-Hwa was given the Order of Merit for his contribution over 40 years to Korean popular culture. A total of 29 awards were handed out during the ceremony.
Making her debut in 1997, JUN quickly established herself as one of the top stars not only in Korea but across Asia, particularly following the massive success of romantic comedy My Sassy Girl (2001). Following forays in Hollywood (Blood: The Last Vampire, 2009) and China (Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, 2011), JUN’s popularity experienced a resurgence with her appearances in a string of consecutive blockbusters, CHOI Dong-hoon’s The Thieves (2012), RYOO Seung-wan’s The Berlin File (2013) and CHOI’s Assassination this year, as well as the hugely popular TV series My Love from the Stars.
Young TV star LEE Jong-suk has recently made inroads in the film industry, appearing in titles such as The Face Reader (2013) and Hot Young Bloods (2014). Another major TV figure, PARK Shin-hye has featured in the smash hit Miracle in Cell No.7 (2013), as well as The Royal Tailor (2014) and this year’s The Beauty Inside. A big film presence from the mid-1970s to early 1990s, LEE Duk-Hwa has since pursued his career in TV dramas.
