Lim Ji Yeon did not make the list of nominees for Best Actress in the TV category at the 61st Baeksang Arts Awards.
The Baeksang Arts Awards secretariat released its list of nominees on April 7th, naming Go Min Si (The Frog), Kim Tae Ri (Jeongnyeon: The Star Is Born), Kim Hye Yoon (Lovely Runner), IU (When Life Gives You Tangerines) and Jang Na Ra (Good Partner) as the contenders for Best Actress in the TV category.
>> The 61st Baeksang Arts Awards: Full List of Nominees Announced
Although all five nominees delivered strong performances, Lim Ji Yeon’s absence from the list has stirred debate. She starred as the lead in The Tale of Lady Ok, which surpassed a 13% viewership rating.
The Tale of Lady Ok has been nominated for Best Drama at the Baeksang Awards, and her co-star Choo Young Woo was nominated for Best New Actor in the TV category. Given the drama’s overall quality and the cast’s remarkable performances, some viewers found it puzzling that Lim was excluded from the Best Actress nominees list in the TV category.
A broadcasting industry insider commented, “The Baeksang Awards limits each category to five nominees, so some deserving works inevitably get left out in strong years. Still, it raises questions when other actors from a drama are nominated but the lead is not.”
Lim Ji Yeon did receive a nomination for Best Supporting Actress in the film category for Revolver. Some speculated this might have been a balancing act between the TV and film divisions. However, the Baeksang Arts Awards do not officially prohibit actors from being nominated in both categories. There have been past instances of actors being nominated in both TV and film divisions simultaneously, which casts doubt on that theory.
Public reactions have been mixed. Some accepted the result as inevitable given the limited number of nominees, while many others expressed confusion. “The drama was critically acclaimed, and the male lead got nominated—why was Lim Ji Yeon the only one left out?” Others voiced disappointment on social media, saying, “With how well she performed, she definitely deserved a nomination.”
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