28th Critics Choice Award: Extraordinary Attorney Woo, Pachinko are South Korea’s second consecutive entry to the prominent show

Hit K-dramas Extraordinary Attorney Woo and Pachinko have been nominated for 'Best Foreign Language Series' at the 28th Critics Choice Award (CCA). Both projects were critically acclaimed and enjoyed major international attention. This also marks the second consecutive time Korean dramas have bagged nominations in the CCA, with the first being Squid Game in 2021.

On December 6 (local US time), the Critics Choice Association released nominees for the 28th Critics Choice Award 2023. Western shows Abbott Elementary and Better Call Saul lead the nominees list, but for South Korea, it was another great year as two of its projects got recognition.

Park Eun-bin and Kang Tae-oh starrer legal drama Extraordinary Attorney Woo became the highest-rated series in ENA's history and in the miniseries of 2022. It was only recently dethroned by Song Joong-ki’s Reborn Rich.

Meanwhile, Lee Min-ho and Oscar-winning Youn Yuh-jung’s Pachinko opened with and managed high expectations.

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28th Critics Choice Award releases its nomination list: Extraordinary Attorney Woo and Pachinko get nods

Touted as the best K-drama of 2022 by many K-culture fans, the hit Extraordinary Attorney Woo recently made its way into the Critics' Choice Award. Pachinko, the Apple TV+ drama based on the 2017 bestseller novel by Min-jin Lee, also received a nod. Both Korean dramas are nominated for the 'Best Foreign Language Series' category.

Extraordinary Attorney Woo catapulted Park Eun-bin and Kang Tae-oh to international fame. While fans rallied online that they would rather go to the military in place of the latter, Park Eun-bin gathered much love from fans all around too.

The duo won multiple awards for their performances as Woo Young-woo, a rookie attorney with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Lee Jun-ho, an employee in the litigation team of the same law firm.

Pachinko, on the other hand, already had a star-studded cast making waves even before its release. Lee Min-ho, South Korea’s king of romance, and Oscar-winning Minari actress Youn Yuh-jung starred in it.

Based on Min-jee Lee’s New York best-selling novel of the same name, the show takes viewers on the journey of a Korean immigrant family across four generations. Alison Herman of The Ringer reviewed the show and said:

“Pachinko proves itself an exceptional entry in the literary-hit-to-prestige-miniseries pipeline. The tears will flow, and every one is earned.”

Extraordinary Attorney Woo and Pachinko will compete against each other and seven other shows. 1899, Borgen, Garcia!, The Kingdom Exodus, Kleo, My Brilliant Friend, and Tehran are the other shows nominated in the 'Best Foreign Language Series' category.

This isn’t the first time a South Korean show has made it to the Critics' Choice Awards. Last year at the 27th CCA, the worldwide hit sensation Squid Game made history by bagging two of the three categories it was nominated in. It won 'Best Foreign Language Series' and 'Best Actor in a Drama Series' (Lee Jung-jae), losing in the 'Best Actor' category.

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If Extraordinary Attorney Woo or Pachinko bring home the award in the coming year, it will be South Korea’s second consecutive win at the upcoming Critics' Choice Award.

Meanwhile, the 28th Critics' Choice Award will be held on January 15, 2023 (US local time) in Los Angeles.