The 4th Blue Dragon Series Awards will take place on July 18, drawing immense attention from fans of streaming series across Korea and beyond. This prestigious event recognizes excellence in streaming content released between June 1, 2024, and May 31, 2025, with winners selected through a combination of fan voting, entertainment journalist evaluations, expert surveys, and public votes.
Among the nominated titles, Netflix’s When Life Gives You Tangerines stands out with an impressive six nominations: Best Drama, Best Actress (IU), Best Actor (Park Bo-gum), Best Supporting Actress (Yeom Hye-ran), Best Supporting Actor (Choi Dae-hoon), and Best New Actor (Kang You-seok). The series portrays the lives of rebellious Ae-soon and iron-willed Gwan-sik, natives of Jeju Island, unfolding their vibrant life journey through the four seasons.
Much of the buzz centers around IU, who played dual roles and carried the emotional weight of the drama from start to finish. Her potential win as Best Actress could be a crowning achievement in her acting career.
Netflix’s The Trauma Code: Heroes on Call is also a strong contender, landing nominations in five categories, including Best Drama, Best Actor (Joo Ji-hoon), and Best Supporting Actor (Yoon Kyung-ho). The medical drama follows genius trauma surgeon Baek Kang-hyuk as he revives a neglected trauma team with bold determination. Joo Ji-hoon, who won Best Actor at the 61st Baeksang Arts Awards in May, could add another major trophy to his collection.
In the Best Actor category, Joo Ji-hoon faces stiff competition from Park Bo-gum (When Life Gives You Tangerines), Park Hae-soo (Karma), Lee Byung-hun (Squid Game Season 2), and Lee Jun-hyuk (Dongjae, the Good or the Bastard).
Meanwhile, in the Best Actress category, IU goes up against Park Eun-bin (Hyper Knife), Seo Hyun-jin (The Trunk), Lee Hye-ri (Friendly Rivalry), and Cha Joo-young (The Queen Who Crowns).
The competition is just as fierce in the variety categories. SNL Korea (Seasons 6 and 7) showed consistent dominance, with Kim Won-hoon, Shin Dong-yup, and Lee Soo-ji earning nominations in major performance categories. Variety shows nominated for Best Program include Kian’s Bizarre B&B, Devil’s Plan: Death Room, My Name Is Gabriel, Bloody Game 3, and Culinary Class Wars each delivering humor and originality to viewers over the past year.
The Blue Dragon Series Awards ceremony will be held at Paradise City in Incheon at 8:30 p.m. KST on July 18 and will be broadcast live via KBS2, Tving, Chzzzik, and Prism. “When Life Gives You Tangerines” might just walk away with multiple trophies—will it be the night IU and Park Bo-gum take center stage?