The grand prize and the honor of "drama of the year" were swept by Undercover High School, while Moon River shone as the "most awarded," winning a total of seven trophies from the rookie award to the best acting award.
On the 30th broadcast of the 2025 MBC Drama Awards, Kim Sung-Ju and actor Lee Sun-bin served as MCs, and the drama of the year presentation was carried out by IU and Byeon Wooseok, who will appear together in "21st century great lady." The nominees were Oh My Ghost Clients, Motel California, Undercover High School and Moon River, and the winner was Undercover High School. Then the grand prize winner was Seo Kang-jun of Undercover High School. On stage, Seo Kang-jun said, "To tell you how I feel now, I am more embarrassed than happy. I am so surprised and embarrassed," and expressed gratitude to the production staff.
Seo Kang-jun said, "I am grateful to my agency CEO and all the staff. And thank you to the cast of Undercover. My family, mother and father. Be healthy and I love you. And my sister. You got married so congratulations and live well. Congratulations to my brother-in-law for becoming family," which drew laughter. He added, "This was the first project I filmed after returning from the military. I missed this set so much. For more than 10 years of acting I always thought I should be grateful and cherish it. I think I unconsciously forgot that. While spending countless hours in the military I missed this set so much, and I am embarrassed and surprised to receive such a heavy award through Undercover," and expressed his thanks.
He continued, "There was a thought I often had while filming. I could be replaced at any time. I had that thought a lot. I think I worry and think a lot while acting, but when I look around there are many people who work harder than I do. There are many wonderful people. Why am I standing here holding this award? Why am I occupying a spot on set? I can only think I was lucky," showing humility. Finally he said, "No one knows how long I will do this job, but I don't want to be replaceable until the day I finish. So I will study, think and act more desperately. Thank you."
The male nominees for best acting award, miniseries were Kang Tae-oh for Moon River, Seo Kang-jun for Undercover High School, Lee Min-ki for Mary Kills People and Jung Kyungho for Oh My Ghost Clients. The winner among the nominees was Kang Tae-oh. With this, Kang Tae-oh became a two-time winner following the best couple award. Female nominees were Kim Se-jeong for Moon River, Lee Bo-young for Mary Kills People, Lee Seyoung for Motel California and Jin Ki-joo for Undercover High School, and Jin Ki-joo and Kim Se-jeong were joint winners. Kim Se-jeong also became a two-time winner, taking the best couple award and the best acting award following Kang Tae-oh.
For the excellence award, miniseries, Lee Jong-won and Chae Soo-bin presented, and the male nominees were Kim Young Dae for To the Moon, Na In-woo for Motel California, Jin Goo for Moon River and Cha Hak-yeon for Oh My Ghost Clients. Among the strong nominees, the winner was Na In-woo. For the female category, the nominees were Roh Jeong-Eui for Crushology 101, Ra Miran for To the Moon, Seorina for Oh My Ghost Clients and Lee Sun-bin for To the Moon. The winner was Lee Sun-bin.
Lee Sun-bin said, "To be honest, I absolutely, and this is not a compliment, did not expect this at all, so I couldn't prepare anything. Actually I was preparing the script for the next project. I don't know if I even deserve to be standing here now" and added jokingly, "I received the rookie award for Missing: Nine, and eight years later I am very grateful to receive such a generous award. To the Moon was honestly the most physically difficult time of my life. But it was a work where I shared more than that, including Miran unnie and all the actors I shared so much with. I was so unprepared that I can't recall the names of the people I should thank. I will contact them separately to convey my thanks," while she drew attention by making no mention of her partner Lee Kwangsoo.
Below are the winners of the 2025 MBC Drama Awards
Grand prize: Seo Kang-jun, Undercover High School
Drama of the year: Undercover High School
[best acting award]
Daily drama/one-act category
Best actor: Song Chang-eui, "kind Seon-ju"
Best actress: Jang Shin-young, The Woman Who Swallowed the Sun
Miniseries category
Best actor: Kang Tae-oh, Moon River
Best actress: Jin Ki-joo, Undercover High School; Kim Se-jeong, Moon River
[excellence award]
Daily drama/one-act category
Excellence award, male: Oh Chang-seok, The Woman Who Swallowed the Sun
Excellence award, female: Yoon Ah-jung, The Woman Who Swallowed the Sun
Miniseries category
Excellence award, male: Na In-woo, Motel California
Excellence award, female: Lee Sun-bin, To the Moon
[supporting actor awards]
Supporting actor, male: Kim Nam-hee, Moon River
Supporting actor, female: Kim Shin-rock, Undercover High School
[rookie awards]
Rookie award, male: Lee Chae-min, Crushology 101; Lee Sin Young, Moon River
Rookie award, female: Jo Aram, To the Moon; Hong Su-ju, Moon River
Lifetime achievement award: the late Lee Soon-jae
Best couple award: Kang Tae-oh & Kim Se-jeong, Moon River
Best character award: Jin Goo, Moon River
Best actor award: Jung Kyungho, Oh My Ghost Clients; Lee Seyoung, Motel California<
[photo] broadcast capture
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