“Squid Game” star Lee Jung-jae will receive the Korea Image Stepping Stone Award, according to the Corea Image Communication Institute (CICI) on Monday.

“Lee has contributed to promoting K-content with his genre-bending performances and played a role as a central stepping stone to put Korean dramas and films in the center of global spotlight by winning outstanding lead actor in a drama series for this year’s Emmys, and also having his directorial debut with espionage action thriller ‘Hunt’ this year,” CICI said on Monday.

CICI announced that the 19th Korea Image Awards ceremony will take place on Jan. 11 at the InterContinental Seoul COEX in southern Seoul. The annual Korea Image Stepping Stone Award is presented to individuals who have contributed to promoting Korea to the world.

Director Hwang Dong-hyuk, the creator behind the Netflix dystopian hit, received the award last year.

CICI is an organization affiliated with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that promotes Korean culture abroad and provides research on changes in the international image of Korea. It was established in 2003.

Other recipients awards are Olympic gold medalist figure skater Kim Yuna, teen swimmer Hwang Sun-woo and fashion company “Euro Fashion House,” who will receive the Korea Image Cornerstone Award, the Korea Image Budding Youth Award and the Korea Image Stepping Stone Bridge Award, respectively.

Previous winners at CICI include YouTubers Josh Carrott and Ollie Kendal, World Golf Hall of Famer Pak Se-ri, Incheon International Airport, the Samsung Galaxy smartphone, AlphaGo, hangul, panelists on the JTBC show “Non-Summit” (2014), pianist Cho Seong-jin and Olympic short track champion Shim Suk-hee.

The annual awards ceremony, held since 2005, is expected to gather around 600 individuals including corporate executives, media representatives, industry experts and ambassadors. The ceremony is supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.


BY LEE JAE-LIM [lee.jaelim@joongang.co.kr]