Korean stars congratulate Youn Yuh-jung on her best supporting actress Oscar win
Song Hye-kyo, Lee Byung-hun, Choi Woo-shik and more cheered the 73-year-old Youn on her historic win.
Yuh-Jung Youn, winner of the award for best actress in a supporting role for "Minari," poses in the press room at the Oscars on Sunday, April 25, 2021, at Union Station in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, Pool)
After 73-year-old actress Youn Yuh-jung made history at the 2021 Academy Awards by being the first South Korean actor to win an Oscar, congratulatory notes started pouring in from her fellow countrymen.
The actress, who starred in Minari, won the best supporting actress trophy on Sunday (Apr 25), edging out fellow nominees Glenn Close, Maria Bakalova, Olivia Colman and Amanda Seyfried.
Youn was also only the second Asian actress to ever win in the category after Japanese-born Miyoshi Umeki picked up a trophy for her role in Sayonara in 1957.
Following her win, her peers in the South Korean entertainment industry swiftly sent their congratulations, including actor Lee Byung-hun, who shared a photo of the actress with her trophy and wrote “Impossible is not a fact, it’s just an opinion”. He included the hashtags #Bravo and #AcademyAwards. The two stars worked together in Keys To The Heart.
Actress Song Hye-kyo posted a photo on her Instagram stories of Youn with her trophy. She wrote, “Sunsaengnim, congratulations!” together with a rose emoji.
Another co-star who sent Youn her congratulations was Jeon Do-yeon; the two worked together in The Housemaid and Beasts Clawing At Straws. Jeon said through her agency that she was “so proud”. “Simply saying congratulations is not nearly enough, but I wholeheartedly congratulate her and wish she will bask in this great joy.”
Parasite star Choi Woo-shik said that he cried as he watched the broadcast as it was an outcome that everyone wanted. He had appeared with her in the reality programme Youn’s Stay.
Actress Bae Doona shared a screenshot of an article about Youn’s win on Instagram stories and included the caption: “Wow! The Oscar Winner! Sunsaengnim! Congratulations!”
It wasn’t just Youn’s acting peers who offered their accolades, South Korea’s president Moon Jae-in also congratulated her with a letter that was posted on Twitter. He wrote that he was very proud of her achievement. “The acting shown by Youn Yuh-jung, who vividly brought to life the image of our mothers and grandmothers, shined so brightly.”
