Yoo Ain Nominated for Best Actor at Directors Cut Awards Despite Ongoing Drug Trial
Directors Guild of Korea Announces Nominees for 23rd Directors Cut Awards
Best Actress and Director Nominees Revealed; Ceremony Set for May 20
Actor Yoo Ain (real name Eom Hongsik), who is accused of habitual drug use, is attending the fifth session of the first trial held last May at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News
Actor Yoo Ain (real name Eom Hongsik), who is currently on trial for drug use, has been nominated for an award at a ceremony hosted by the Directors Guild of Korea (DGK).
On April 22, DGK announced the list of nominees for the 23rd Directors Cut Awards, which will be held next month. Eligible works for consideration include films, dramas, and series directed by regular or associate DGK members and released between January 1 of last year and March 31 of this year.
Yoo Ain was nominated for Best Actor for his role in the film "The Match," released last month. He will compete against Robert Pattinson for "Mickey 17," Yoon Jusang for "Seagulls by the Morning Sea," Lee Byunghun for "The Match," and Choi Minshik for "Exhuma."
Yoo was indicted last October on charges of habitual administration of medical propofol and other drugs under the pretense of cosmetic sedation at hospitals in Seoul, allegedly committing this offense 181 times between September 2020 and March 2022. The reported quantities included 9,635.7 ml of propofol, 567 mg of midazolam, 11.5 mg of ketamine, and 200 mg of remimazolam.
He also faces charges of illegally obtaining more than 1,100 tablets of two types of sleeping pills under another person's name on 44 occasions between May 2021 and August 2023. Additionally, he is accused of smoking marijuana three times in the United States with Choi and others in January of last year, and of instructing another person to smoke marijuana. In the first trial last September, he was sentenced to one year in prison, but was released on probation in the appellate trial. Prosecutors have appealed to the Supreme Court.
Nominees for Best Actress at the Directors Cut Awards include Kim Goeun for "Love in the Big City" and "Exhuma," Kim Jaehwa for "To Her," Shin Hyeseon for "She Died," and Yang Heekyung for "Seagulls by the Morning Sea."
Nominees for Best Director in the film category are Kim Hyungjoo for "The Match," Nam Donghyup for "Handsome Guys," Bong Joonho for "Mickey 17," Woo Minho for "Harbin," Jang Jaehyun for "Exhuma," and Hur Jinho for "A Normal Family."
For the series category, which was established in 2022, nominees for Best Director include Kim Gok and Kim Sun for "Family Plan," Park Chanwook for "The Sympathizer," Yeon Sangho for "Parasyte: The Grey," Lee Changhee for "A Killer Paradox," Lim Daehyung for "LTNS," and Hwang Donghyuk for "Squid Game" Season 2.
The Directors Cut Awards began in 1998 as the "Young Film Directors Gathering Directors Cut," and have been hosted by DGK since 2017. Nominees and winners are selected by votes from Korean film directors. This year's ceremony will be held at 7 p.m. on May 20.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
