"Loved that drama but he didnt deserve": Fans divided over Ju Ji-hoon's Best Actor win at Baeksang Arts Awards for The Trauma Code: Heroes On Call

Ju Ji-hoon took home the Best Actor award at the 60th Baeksang Arts Awards on May 5, 2025, for his role as Baek Gang-hyeok in The Trauma Code: Heroes on Call. While many praised the actor’s performance, his win sparked mixed reactions online.

During his acceptance speech, Ju Ji-hoon expressed heartfelt gratitude, emphasising the importance of teamwork in the acting field.

"I watched the Baeksang Awards today, and huh, I want to first thank the viewers who enjoyed and loved our work. With each project, I realise more deeply that as an actor, I can do nothing without my colleagues. I feel strongly that everyone is a colleague. This award feels like a gesture to say thank you on behalf of everyone. I look forward to meeting you with works that allow for communication. I love the entire The Trauma Code: Heroes on Call team." Ju Ji-hoon said.

However, not all the viewers were convinced that Ju Ji-hoon was the deserving winner. Several expressed disappointment on social media, with a few stating that other performers gave better performances. The Best Actor category this year was very competitive.

Fellow nominees of Ju Ji-hoon were Park Bo-gum (Completely Fooled), Byun Woo-seok (Run Away with Seon-jae), Lee Jun-hyuk (Good or Bad Dong-jae), and Han Suk-kyu (Such Intimate Betrayers). Fans of these actors voiced their opinions, saying the award could have gone to someone else. One viewer wrote,

"Loved that drama but he didnt deserve this award AT ALL"

"He had several great drama released along side this shit but they have to give him award for this childish netflix show even his performance in lightshop was classic" said one netizen.

"Why this though? It's was fun to watch but definitely not an acting masterpiece! Best actor award shouldn't have been for this drama," posted an X user.

"This is like Tom Cruise winning Best Actor for all the stunts he pulled off in Mission Impossible but hey. It’s slim pickings in the actor category so congrats man, you gonna do this show again lmaooo" read a comment on X.

"Bogum or the actor who played the older him deserved it more tbh cause this wasn't a groundbreaking role or anything" mentioned another user.

While some viewers questioned the decision, many fans of Ju Ji-hoon stood firmly behind the actor, celebrating his performance and long-standing career. On X (formerly Twitter), several users shared their admiration for Ju Ji-hoon’s portrayal of Baek Gang-hyeok and expressed support for his win.

"It's a well-deserved award. With this motivation, continue to make 3-5 series a year. Juji By the way, has Lightshop been nominated for any of the directing or screenplay categories? I think it would be quite possible for it to be nominated," said an individual on X.

"Trauma Code is literally one of the top 3 best kdramas of 2025, this is so so deserved" mentioned one fan.

"Yeah, I said that Bang Juji's acting in Trauma Code was really good. Baek Kanghyuk is really one of the coolest doctor roles I've seen in K-drama land" posted one X user.

"The crown prince has finally become the king. Congratulations to Ju Jihoon for winning Baeksang's Best Actor," added another individual.

---

Ju Ji-hoon leads the winners list at the 61st Baeksang Arts Awards: full list of 2025 honorees

The 61st Baeksang Arts Awards took place on May 5, 2025, at D Hall of COEX in Seoul. For the third year in a row, the event was held in collaboration with Gucci and honoured achievements in television, cinema, and theatre. Shin Dong-yup, Suzy, and Park Bo-gum again served as hosts for the fourth consecutive time and headed the ceremony.

The awards were handed out by several of the industry's popular figures, including BIBI, Nana, Ong Seong-wu, Jung Eun-ji, Seo In-guk, Ahn Hyo-seop, Kim Seon-ho, Jang Ki-yong, Kim Hye-yoon, Im Si-wan, Kim Yoo-jung, Kim Young-kwang, Lee Jae-in, Yoon Si-yoon, and Kyung Soo-jin.

The complete list of the 2025 Baeksang Arts Awards winners:

1. Grand Prize (Daesang): Culinary Class Wars (Netflix)
2. Best Drama: When Life Gives You Tangerines (Netflix)
3. Best Actor: Ju Ji-hoon (The Trauma Code: Heroes on Call)
4. Best Actress: Kim Tae-ri (Jeongnyeon: The Star Is Born)
5. Best Director: Song Yeon-hwa (Doubt)
6. Best Supporting Actor: Choi Dae-hoon (When Life Gives You Tangerines)
7. Best Supporting Actress: Yeom Hye-ran (When Life Gives You Tangerines)
8. Best Screenplay: Im Sang-choon (When Life Gives You Tangerines)
9. Best New Actor: Choo Young-woo (The Tale of Lady Ok)
10. Best New Actress: Chae Won-bin (Doubt)
11. Best Variety Show: Punghyanggo (DdeunDdeun)
12. Best Educational Show: Special-Hakjeon (SBS)
13. Best Male Entertainer: Shin Dong-yup
14. Best Female Entertainer: Lee Soo-ji
15. Best Technical Direction: Jang Yeong-gyu (Jeongnyeon: The Star Is Born – music)
16. Grand Prize (Daesang): Hong Kyung-pyo (Harbin – cinematography)
17. Best Film: Harbin
18. Best Actor: Jo Jung-suk (Pilot)
19. Best Actress: Jeon Do-yeon (Revolver)
20. Best Director: Oh Seung-wook (Revolver)
21. Best Supporting Actor: Yoo Jae-myung (Land of Happiness)
22. Best Supporting Actress: Claudia Kim (A Normal Family)
23. Best Scenario: Shin-chul, Park Chan-wook (Uprising)
24. Best New Director: Oh Jung-min (House of the Seasons)
25. Best New Actor: Jung Sung-il (Uprising)
26. Best New Actress: Roh Yoon-seo (Hear Me: Our Summer)
27. Best Technical Direction: Jo Young-wook (Uprising – music)
28. Gucci Impact Award: The Land of Morning Calm
29. PRIZM Popularity Award (Male): Byeon Woo-seok
30. PRIZM Popularity Award (Female): Kim Hye-yoon
31. Young Theater Award: Gongnori Club (Dried Pepper and Peach Scent Lipstick)
32. Best Acting: Kwak Ji-sook (Jews of Malta)
33. Baeksang Theater Award: Tungso Sori (Seoul Metropolitan Theater)

The ceremony was broadcast live on JTBC, JTBC2, and JTBC4, with online streaming available through Prism, Naver TV, and Chizichik. Highlights of the night are available on the official Baeksang YouTube channel.

---

All episodes of The Trauma Code: Heroes on Call featuring Ju Ji-hoon are available on Netflix.