Director Park Chan-wook has been awarded the ‘Commandeur’, the highest grade of the Order of Arts and Letters from the French government. He is only the fourth Korean to ever receive this prestigious honor!
On the 17th (local time), French Minister of Culture Catherine Pegar presented the Commandeur honor to Director Park in Cannes. The Order of Arts and Letters is awarded by the French government to individuals who have contributed to the development of arts worldwide. It is divided into three grades: Chevalier, Officier, and Commandeur, with Commandeur being the highest rank.
Director Park joins an elite group of Koreans who have received the Commandeur, following Kim Jung-ok (former head of the Korea Arts Council) in 2002, conductor Chung Myung-whun in 2011, and soprano Sumi Jo last year.
Director Park is widely seen as a symbol of the Korean cinema renaissance. Since his debut in 1992 with ‘The Moon is… a Dream of the Sun’, he has delivered legendary works like ‘Joint Security Area’ (2000) and ‘Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance’ (2002). He gained global fame in 2004 when ‘Oldboy’ won the Grand Prix at the 57th Cannes Film Festival. He later won the Jury Prize for ‘Thirst’ (2009) and the Best Director award for ‘Decision to Leave’ (2022).
Adding to his achievements, Director Park is currently leading the jury in Cannes as the first Korean ever appointed as the Jury President for the competition section.
