Writer Kim Eun-sook Wins First Golden Bird Award at Seoul International Drama Awards

The Seoul International Drama Awards Organizing Committee announced on the 29th that it has selected writer Kim Eun-sook, who wrote 'Lovers in Paris', 'Secret Garden', 'Descendants of the Sun', 'Guardian: The Lonely and Great God', 'Mr. Sunshine', 'The Glory', and 'Genie, Make a Wish', as the recipient of the Seoul International Drama Awards 2026 Golden Bird Award.

Writer Kim Eun-sook, recipient of the Seoul International Drama Awards 2026 Golden Bird Award (Photo provided by Netflix)

The Golden Bird Award is the highest honor directly selected by the Seoul International Drama Awards Organizing Committee. It is awarded by considering deep messages, originality, scalability that captures global viewers across borders, and the achievements of creators and works that expand the artistic boundaries of TV series. This year, the Organizing Committee cited 'ONE & ONLY Kim Eun-sook World', 'Storyteller of 21st century', and 'Worldwide visionary' as the core reasons for selecting writer Kim Eun-sook.

◇ Choi Min-sik → Park Chan-wook → Ben Stiller → Kim Eun-sook… The first 'Writer' to win the Golden Bird Award

Writer Kim Eun-sook's selection is significant as she is the first writer to win since the introduction of the Golden Bird Award.

Established for the first time in 2023, the Golden Bird Award has been presented to works and creators that have left a mark on the drama industry by being recognized for both artistic quality and popularity among global trending works. In the first year, Disney+ 'Big Bet' and actor Choi Min-sik were honored with the award; in 2024, director Park Chan-wook, co-showrunner and executive producer of HBO 'The Sympathizer', won; and in 2025, Ben Stiller, who directed Apple TV+ 'Severance Season 2', was the recipient.

While Choi Min-sik demonstrated the capability of K-dramas through overwhelming acting, and Park Chan-wook and Ben Stiller expanded the boundaries of TV series with original directing and worldviews, this year the Golden Bird Award goes to a writer who has captured global viewers across genres, generations, and borders through the power of 'story'.

◇ 57.6% Started from 'Lovers in Paris' to 'Kim Eun-sook World'... Stories talked about even as time passes

Writer Kim Eun-sook is a creator who has constantly challenged new stories while building her own instantly recognizable world.

Starting with 'Lovers in Paris', which recorded a high viewership rating of 57.6%, she imprinted the so-called 'Kim Eun-sook World' on the public through works like 'Secret Garden' and 'The Heirs', which featured syndrome-level lines and charming characters. 'Lovers in Paris' received the Excellence Award in the Drama category at the Korea Broadcasting Awards and the Grand Prize in the TV category at the Baeksang Arts Awards, while 'Secret Garden' won the Hallyu Drama Writer Award at the 6th Seoul International Drama Awards.

In particular, the connection between writer Kim and the Seoul International Drama Awards goes back 15 years. Having won the Hallyu Drama Writer Award at the Seoul International Drama Awards for 'Secret Garden' in 2011, writer Kim stands on the Seoul International Drama Awards stage again as the protagonist of the Golden Bird Award, the highest honor of the ceremony, 15 years later in 2026. At that time, in addition to writer Kim Eun-sook's writer award for 'Secret Garden', director Shin Woo-cheol won the Hallyu Drama Directing Award and Baek Z Young won the Theme Song Award.

◇ From romance to war, legends, history, and school violence... 'Stories the era demands'

Writer Kim Eun-sook's world of work has not stayed within a specific genre.

She has captured new subjects and characters that the public can empathize with whenever times change, such as 'Descendants of the Sun', which unraveled the values of love and belief on the boundary of war and disaster; 'Guardian: The Lonely and Great God', which reinterpreted the legend of the Dokkaebi with a modern sense; and 'Mr. Sunshine', which brought the stories of nameless figures lost in history into the present reality. 'Descendants of the Sun' won the Best Hallyu Drama at the 11th Seoul International Drama Awards and the Grand Prize at the Korea Communications Commission Broadcasting Awards, and 'Guardian: The Lonely and Great God' also was named for the Grand Prize in the TV category at the Baeksang Arts Awards.

Afterward, writer Kim Eun-sook expanded her world once again through 'The Glory'. Centered on the revenge of a character whose life was destroyed by school violence, 'The Glory' densely unraveled violence, wounds, and human choices, creating a global resonance that transcended her existing image as a romance writer.

In the viewership status for the first half of 2023 released by Netflix, Season 1 of 'The Glory' was watched for 622,800,000 hours, ranking 3rd among all works. It also won Best Drama Series at the 2023 Asian Academy Creative Awards and received the Best Drama Award in the Hallyu Drama category at the Seoul International Drama Awards in the same year.

◇ From 'The Glory' to 'Genie, Make a Wish'... 'Kim Eun-sook's stories' seen by the whole world

Writer Kim Eun-sook's stories now meet global viewers beyond Korea.

In the Netflix 'Genie, Make a Wish' released in 2025, she captured human desire, love, and choice in a fantasy romantic comedy through 'Genie', a spirit awakened after a thousand years, and 'Ga-young', who can hardly feel emotions. At the time of the work's release, writer Kim Eun-sook emphasized the story created by the characters' emotions and desires centered around 'three wishes and numerous temptations'.

'Genie, Make a Wish' also continued its global success after its release. It entered the TV Show TOP 10 in 51 countries worldwide and rose to 1st place in the weekly global non-English TV category on Netflix, and Studio Dragon is also officially recording this work as the number 1 non-English series on Netflix as of October 2025.

The Organizing Committee highly evaluated writer Kim Eun-sook as a creator who has made stories talked about even as time passes with an unrivaled worldview, a 21st-century storyteller who has constantly sought the stories the era demands, and a writer who has delivered fun and emotion to global viewers beyond K-dramas, selecting her as this year's Golden Bird winner.

In past acceptance speeches, writer Kim Eun-sook has expressed her will as a creator to constantly seek new things, saying, "There is nothing new under the sun." Her 20-year creative journey, expanding her territory with every work from romantic comedy to fantasy, period dramas, and revenge dramas, has set another milestone with the 2026 Seoul International Drama Awards Golden Bird Award.

The 21st Seoul International Drama Awards ceremony will be held on Thursday, October 8, at the Yeouido KBS Hall, and it is scheduled to be broadcast live from 4:55 PM through MBC and the official Seoul International Drama Awards YouTube channel.

Introduction to Seoul International Drama Awards Organizing Committee

The Seoul International Drama Awards is an international drama awards ceremony hosted by the Korean Broadcasters Association and the Seoul International Drama Awards Organizing Committee.

◆ At a glance

· Issuing Institution: Seoul International Drama Awards Organizing Committee

· Category: Broadcasting, Entertainer, Seoul International Drama Awards Organizing Committee

· Distribution: September 29, 2026, at 10:35 AM

Source: Seoul International Drama Awards Organizing Committee Press Release (NewsWire)

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