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In a powerhouse film industry such as Korea’s, which produces hundreds of titles and welcomes hundreds of million of spectators to theaters every year, there needs to be a steady flow of fresh talents both in front of and behind the camera to keep the stories on screen fresh and dynamic.

Compared to many other countries, Korea places a special emphasis on identifying and fostering new talent. Consider the annual awards circuit, where each prize-giving ceremony, from the Blue Dragon and Grand Bell Awards to smaller bodies such as the Korean Association of Film Critics or the Wildflower Film Awards, generally offer prizes for Best New Actor and Best New Actress (in addition to Best New Director).

Among the Best New Actress winners of the past few years, many have continued to do great work in the industry, but as the awards circuit can only recognize a limited amount of people, several other worthy young actresses go on to do great things without the benefit of the same media attention.

This week on KoBiz, we look at some of the major ‘Best New Actress’ awardees of the last few years, as well as some of the talented actresses who have spent less time in the limelight, all of whom we can expect great things from throughout this year and those to come.

KIM Go-eun - 8 Awards for JUNG Ji-woo’s Eungyo (2012)

Playing the young girl at the heart of JUNG Ji-woo’s drama Eungyo (2012), ingenue KIM Go-eun immediately captured the attention of the Korean film industry with a risqué Lolita-esque role. The 20-year-old actress at the time played a precocious 16-year-old girl who draws the attention of an elderly poet and his mentee during a long, hot summer.

Two years after her debut, KIM made a big splash when she headlined three 2014 titles. She enters a bloody battle with a serial killer in HWANG In-ho’s Monster (2014), served as the number two in KIM Hye-soo’s gang in HAN Jun-hee’s Cannes-invited Coin Locker Girl  (2015) and was trained by JEON Do-yeon to fight LEE Byung-hun in PARK Heung-sik’s period swordplay action-fantasy Memories of the Sword (2015).

Following a rise in popularity on the small screen, KIM is back in theaters in LEE Joon-ik’s Byeonsan this year, as a country girl who gets involved with PARK Jung-min’s dejected wannabe rapper who returns from the city.

PARK So-dam -7 Awards for JANG Jae-hyun’s The Priests (2015) and LEE Hae-young’s The Silenced (2015)

Following a smattering of supporting roles in indie productions, PARK So-dam made her grand entry into the commercial arena in 2015, which saw her take on a variety of impressive roles in four films, three of which welcomed well over five million viewers. She drew the most notice for her part as the possessed woman being exorcised by KIM Yun-seok and GANG Dong-won in The Priests and as a mysterious young woman at a sanatorium in the period mystery-thriller The Silenced.

A few months later she was back with her first lead role, this time as a young nun in the mountains trying to help a man cure his alcohol addiction in KIM Hee-jung’s Snow Paths, one of the 2016 Jeonju Cinema Projects. After appearing in a few TV dramas, PARK will next be seen in Parasite, the latest film from BONG Joon-ho, in which she will play SONG Kang-ho’s daughter.

KIM Tae-ri - 7 Awards for PARK Chan-wook’s The Handmaiden (2016)

Hand-picked by PARK Chan-wook from among 1500 hopefuls, KIM Tae-ri immediately announced herself as a major talent as she tackled the at-times servile and conniving titular character of The Handmaiden in a role filled with surprising doses of grace, humor and sensuality.

KIM returned to theaters a year and a half later within the sprawling cast of JANG Joon-hwan’s hit political drama 1987: When the Day Comes (2017). Her part as a teenager in Seoul who unwittingly becomes involved in the massive student demonstrations of the time was a focal point of the film’s success, both awakening nostalgia in older spectators and allowing the film to connect with younger viewers.

Next month KIM will return in YIM Soon-rye’s drama Little Forest. Shot during four seasons, this adaption of the Japanese manga of the same name chronicles the year in the life of a girl who escapes the stress of the city and returns to her hometown.

CHOI Hee-seo - 6 Awards for LEE Joon-ik’s Anarchist from Colony (2017)

Currently sweeping the awards circuit is CHOI Hee-seo, star of LEE Joon-ik’s most recent film Anarchist from Colony. Picked from relative obscurity by LEE for a supporting part in DONGJU; The Portrait of A Poet  (2016), her talents were noticed by the veteran filmmaker who then gave her a lead in his next project, as a fiery Japanese anarchist who aligns herself with the Korean independence fighter PARK Yeol, played by LEE Je-hoon. CHOI also had a small part as Jake Gyllenhaal’s interpreter in BONG Joon-ho’s Okja (2017). 

Following several small parts in the likes of PARK Chan-kyong’s MANSHIN: Ten Thousand Spirits, LEE Sang-hee made a splash with lead roles in two films at the Busan International Film Festival in 2014: SON Seung-ung’s Shadow Island and especially KIM Dae-hwan’s acclaimed End of Winter. A dozen more small parts in big films such as KIM Jee-woon’s The Age of Shadows (2016) and KIM Seong-hun’s Tunnel (2016) followed, until she impressed audiences and critics again as a timid young artist who falls in love with RYU Sun-young’s magnetic barmaid in LEE Hyun-ju’s debut film Our Love Story (2016). Most recently, LEE drew the notice of mainstream audiences as a harassed market stall owner in KIM Hyun-suk’s sleeper hit I Can Speak. (2017)

BAE So-eun made her mark when she debuted in KIM Sung-hong’s body horror Doctor (2013), which debuted as a gala presentation at the Busan International Film Festival in 2012. A few years later she drew notice in a very different role as the lead of JANG Hyun-sang’s Kissing Cousin (2016), a surprising tale of two cousins who battle awkward feelings between each other during a busy family gathering. Her hypnotic and surreal expressivity was put to great use as the tracksuit-wearing hostess in KIM Sang-chan’s Karaoke Crazies (2017), a role which earned her the Best Actress prize in the Korean Features competition of the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival. She teamed up with JANG again last year for the coffee prohibition indie Coffee Noir, Black Brown.

Following a supporting part in Coin Locker Girl, LEE Su-gyeong broke out with her first lead role in SHIN Joon’s Yongsoon (2017), in which she played a forward high school girl who falls in love with her athletics coach. After more small roles in KIM Tae-gon’s family comedy Familyhood (2016) and PARK In-jae’s election drama The Mayor (2017), LEE took on a role in Heart Blackened (2017), JUNG Ji-woo’s remake of the Chinese thriller Silent Witness. In it, she played Mira, a girl suspected of killing the fiancee of her corporate head father, played by CHOI Min-shik. LEE will be back on screens soon in LEE Min-jae’s comedy Strange Family (translated title) alongside JUNG Jae-young, UHM Ji-won and KIM Nam-gil.

Unlike the other performers on this list, JEONG is most well known for being a filmmaker, having written and directed both films she has appeared in to date. JEONG impressed locally with her debut Bitch on the Beach (2016), which bowed at the Seoul Independent Film Festival in late 2016. In it she plays a young woman who drops in unexpectedly on her ex and tries to become intimate with him. JEONG is currently being discovered by international audiences with her second feature Hit the Night, which debuted at Busan and is currently screening at the International Film Festival Rotterdam. In this sophomore work, she plays a strong-willed woman who lures a young man to which she is attracted to a night out drinking under false pretenses.

One of the most active performers in the independent scene, KIM Sae-byuk’s first major splash was alongside Japanese actor IWASE Ryo as a Korean woman visiting Japan in JANG Kun-jae’s endearing quasi-romance drama A Midsummer's Fantasia (2015). She has since become an established figure in the indie scene and last year saw her feature in leading roles in four indie titles. Among those were Hong Sangsoo’s The Day After (2017), in which she plays KWON Hae-hyo’s workplace lover, who quits her job which is then taken over by KIM Min-hee, and KIM Dae-hwan’s The First Lap (2017), where she and CHO Hyun-chul play a long-term couple that have yet to tie the knot, much to the chagrin of their parents. She recently reunited with Hong for his forthcoming 22nd feature Grass, which will debut next month in the Forum section of the Berlin international Film Festival.