Actress Youn Yuh-jung (left) poses for a photo shoot with Brad Pitt, producer of the film Minari, at the 93rd Academy Awards on April 45. (Photo: Academy Twitter)

Youn Yuh-jung, who played the role of grandmother Soon-ja in the film “Minari,” won the Best Supporting Actress Award at the 93rd Academy Awards on April 26. It was the first time a Korean actress won the award.

Youn drew much attention due to her straightforward yet witty acceptance speech under the title “Korean Grandma.”

Minari is a 2020 American film directed by Lee Isaac Chung. The film depicts director Chung’s upbringing in the rural United States during the 1980s.

Minari had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 26, 2020, picking up both the U.S. Dramatic Grand Jury Prize and the U.S. Drama tic Audience Award.

The film received positive reviews from film critics and moviegoers. Many film critics did not hesitate to call Minari one of the best movies of 2020.

Youn is independent, stylish, and freewheeling. The actress has a diverse, colorful acting range thanks to her artistic talent and unique characteristics.

She made her film debut in “Woman of Fire” in 1971. She appeared in a TV show in 1966.

Actress Youn gave credit to the director, other actors and actresses and production crew members of Minari. “We are all winners who played their roles well,” Youn told five other candidates including Glenn Close, a seasoned U.S. actress.

“I was just luckier than them.” “Thank you for making me go out and work hard,” Youn said, mentioning her two sons who strongly supported her. “This trophy is the result of my hard work.”

Youn’s witty acceptance speech became a hot topic on social media channels such as Twitter, and was praised as the best speech at the Academy Awards.

“Youn fever” gripped the Twittersphere. Over 600,000 keywords related to actors’ names such as #Youn Yuh-jung and #YuhJungYoung flooded Twitter in one day on April 26.

According to a PR agency for Twitter, by country, fans in Korea, the United States, Brazil, Indonesia, Japan and the United Kingdom showered Youn with praises on Twitter.

In addition, a tweet about the announcement of the best supporting female actress at the Academy Awards generated 39,000 retweets among tweets announced by @TheAcademy, the official Twitter account for the Academy Awards.

The largest number of retweets ever recorded on this account was more than 170,000 retweets from a tweet about the announcement of the Bong Joon-ho film “Parasite” as the best film in 2020.

In Korea, Youn’s acceptance speech made positive waves. On Instagram, interviews are quickly shared after the awards ceremony, saying, “Youn Yuh-jung’s words.”

One post containing her words received more than 5,000 likes. Internet users applauded Youn Yuh-jung’s interview response, saying, “Youn responded gracefully while fielding a rude question well.”

In particular, Youn’s remarks and attitude became a hot topic among those in their 20s, especially in internet communities.

On April 27, internet community members responded to her remarks and attitude by saying, “Youn Yuh-jung is my role model” and “She is an adult who serves as a good model for the younger generation these days.”

Youn has been receiving cheers from people in their 20s and 30s for her honesty and humbleness.

Youn’s winning the Best Supporting Actress Award is all the more meaningful at a time when hate crimes against Asian women are increasing day by day.

Her latest achievement will be a great consolation not only for Koreans but also for Asians and women, said many movie critics at home and abroad.

Her cheerful and imposing appearance will remain a great force, especially for old Asian women.

While “Parasite,” which took home the Best Film Award, instilled a strong sense of pride in Koreans last year, Youn’s prize gives hope and encouragement to all Asian women suffering from or fearing hate crimes around the world this year, a Korean film critic said.