SEOUL– Apple TV+’s Korean language drama “Pachinko” has won the best foreign language series at this year’s Critics Choice Awards.
At the ceremony held by the Critics Choice Association in Los Angeles on Sunday (U.S. time), “Pachinko” won the trophy in the TV category to beat eight other contestants.
A Korean legal drama about an autistic lawyer, “Extraordinary Attorney Woo,” aired on Korean cable channel ENA and streamed on Netflix, won a nomination in the same category but failed to win an award.
The seven other contestants were Netflix’s “1899,” “Borgen” and “Kleo”; HBO Max’s “Garcia!”; MUBI’s “The Kingdom Exodus”; HBO’s “My Brilliant Friend”; and Apple TV+’s “Tehran.”
It marks the second consecutive year that a Korean-language series has clinched the trophy for the best foreign language series. Last year, Netflix sensation “Squid Game” became the first Korean show to receive the prize given by a group of 500 film and TV broadcast critics in North America.
Based on the 2017 bestselling novel by Korean American author Lee Min-jin, “Pachinko” is a sprawling, multilingual epic that examines four generations of a Korean family during the Japanese occupation of Korea and the subsequent racism that followed.
The eight-episode series revolves around a native Korean girl named Sunja as well as generations of her family, taking place in multiple locations, including South Korea, Japan and the United States.
It stars rookie actress Kim Min-ha as young Sunja, Oscar-winning actress Youn Yuh-jung as older Sunja, and Korean heartthrob Lee Min-ho as Sunja’s love interest, Hansu.
Another South Korean nominee that left the ceremony empty-handed was director Park Chan-wook’s romance thriller “Decision to Leave.” It was nominated for best foreign film.
Source: Yonhap News Agency