Nation's MC Yoo Jae-seok Awarded Order of Cultural Merit... "An Honor for My Family, I Will Keep Working Hard as Long as Allowed"

"Nation's MC" Yu Jae-seok has once again proven his unmatched 36-year career in the entertainment industry by receiving the Bogwan Order of Cultural Merit, the government's highest honor in the field of popular culture and arts.

Yu was named a recipient of the Bogwan Order of Cultural Merit at the 17th Korea Popular Culture and Arts Awards ceremony held on the 29th at the Haeoreum Grand Theater of the National Theater of Korea in Jung-gu, Seoul.

Hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and organized by the Korea Creative Content Agency, the Korea Popular Culture and Arts Awards is the highest-level government commendation established to recognize those who have contributed to the development of the popular culture and arts industry. With this latest decoration, Yu has achieved a major milestone by receiving three awards from the ceremony over his career, following his Prime Minister's Commendation in 2012 and the Presidential Commendation in 2018.

Taking the stage to receive the honor, Yu humbly shared the credit, saying, "I never imagined or dreamed of a day like this, and I consider it an absolute honor, a true pride for my family. I believe I was able to stand here today thanks to the countless senior and junior colleagues, production teams, and staff who have worked hard to create entertaining variety shows with me, as well as the viewers who always support us."

He added, "What I need to do will not change moving forward. I will continuously research and strive. I do not know how long I will be allowed to do this, but I will do my best and work hard day by day," leaving a deep impression with his remarks.

Yu has been building universal empathy across generations by leading both viewership ratings and public buzz across various platforms, ranging from major terrestrial flagship variety shows such as SBS 'Running Man' and MBC 'Hangout with Yoo' to web variety shows like 'Pinggyego'.

Reporter Kang Sun-ae

(Photo courtesy of SBS E&T, Reporter Kang Sun-ae)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.