The 44th PaekSang Arts Awards Sparkles with Stars

Korean TV and film stars gathered together for The 44th PaekSang Arts Awards Thursday evening in Seoul. The Awards honors filmmakers, TV actors and actresses, producers and programs that made distinguishing marks in the field of visual media arts.

In the film category, the grand prize went to "The Chaser" directed by Na Hong-jin, who also won the best new director award. "The Chaser" has attracted over 5 million filmgoers so far, winning the top-grossing film title for the first half of 2008. The best director award went to Lee Chang-dong of "Secret Sunshine" and the best picture award to "Forever the Moment", based on a true story of the Korean women's handball team. Im Chang-jung of "Scout" was named the best actor and Kim Min-hee of "Hellcats" the best actress. Also hunky superstar kwon Sang-woo and lovely Kim Jung-eun won the popularity vote.

The grand prize in the TV category was given to Kang Ho-dong for his leadership in the "One Night Two Days" segment of the entertainment program "Happy Sunday". The best actor and best actress awards went to Park Shin-yang, who played a ruthless loan shark in "War of Money", and Yoon Eun-hye, a boyish barista in "Coffee Prince". "War of Money" also garnered the best drama award. Other honorees include Lee Byeong-hoon, director of historical drama "Yi San", as the best TV director, Song Chang-eui of "Golden Bride" as the best new actor, and Lee Ji-ah of "The Legend" as the best new actress. Also Kang Ji-hwan and Sung Yu-ri, the two stars of "Hong Gil-dong, the Hero", were named the most popular TV performers in the popularity poll.

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