Actor Ryu Jun-yeol snags rookie award

Ryu Jun-yeol, the star of the hit local TV series "Reply 1988," was dubbed the rookie of 2015, star agency C-JeS Entertainment said on Friday.

The 30-year-old Korean heartthrob was awarded two honors, the best rookie's award and the rising star's award, in this year's Maxmovie Best Films Awards, an annual awards ceremony hosted by online movie reviewer and reservation service provider Maxmovie, at the Universal Art Center in eastern Seoul in Thursday evening.

Ryu, the latest contender for the title of typical "South Korean handsome," was recognized for his unique acting in the film "Socialphobia" (2014) directed by Hong Seok-jae, launched in local cinemas on March 12, 2015. Ryu costarred in the film as Yanggae, a BJ of an online broadcasting channel.

The Korean star gained a total of 816,951 votes, or about 42 percent of total ballots, according to Maxmovie. Proving explosive popularity among the young and female audience, Ryu raked in votes from 50.7 percent of those in their 20s and 70 percent of women.

"I have tons of people to be grateful for, including my colleagues and the audience of 'Socialphobia,'" Ryu was quoted as saying by C-JeS.

The accolade came at a time of trouble, two days after the outbreak of a rumor that Ryu is a user of Ilbe, an online community of conservative extremists. The next day, Ryu's agency vowed to file a complaint to the police against an Internet user who allegedly tried to use the actor's personal information to join the controversial website.

Thanks to the success of tvN's television series "Reply 1988" in which he co-starred, Ryu is expecting the launch of his new film "One Way Trip" (2015) on March 24.

The Korean actor was recently cast in the action film "The King" (2016), slated to launch in the second half of this year. (Yonhap)