South Korean director Bong Joon-ho on Saturday won the top Palme d'Or prize at the Cannes Film Festival for his thriller comedy movie "Parasite."

Bong became the first Korean director to ever win the highest honor in the festival's 72-year history. Before him, Park Chan-wook was awarded the Grand Prix, the second-highest prize at the festival for his thriller "Old Boy" in 2004 and Im Kwon-taek took the best director award for "Chihwaseon" in 2002.

Accepting the prize at the awards ceremony, the 49-year-old director said he was inspired by French movies and that "Parasite" was an amazing adventure for him. He added that when he was 12 years old, he decided to become a film director and he had never imagined the day that he would touch the trophy.

He also thanked his staff and cast for their dedication and contribution to completing the film and called his longtime leading actor, Song Kang-ho, onto the stage to receive the award with him.

Starring Song, Lee Sun-kyun and Cho Yeo-jeong, "Parasite" tells the story of two families who are markedly different yet also alike.

It is the first time in seven years that a Korean film received the top prize at one of the world's three most acclaimed film competitions – Cannes, Venice and Berlin – since Kim Ki-duk grabbed the Golden Lion at the 2012 Venice Film Festival for "Pieta."