The 98th annual Academy Awards air Sunday night, and KPop Demon Hunters has been nominated for best animated feature and best original song for “Golden.” If it wins in either category, it will be a record-setting moment for South Korean creatives.
Arden Cho, who voices the movie’s main character, Rumi, told ABC Audio, “I feel like it would be such an honor and what an incredible history-making moment if we were to win an Oscar.”
“I think there’s … so many Koreans involved in this project and it is sort of the first animation set in Korea,” she added. “I just feel like it’d be really groundbreaking.”
If KPop Demon Hunters wins best animated feature, director Maggie Kang and producer Michelle Wong would be the first individuals of South Korean descent to win in that category. And if “Golden” is named best original song, four of the song’s five co-writers — including EJAE, who provides Rumi’s singing voice — would be the first South Koreans to win in that category.
KPop Demon Hunters has been a cultural phenomenon ever since it debuted on Netflix in 2025, while its soundtrack has topped the charts and spun off a series of top-10 hits. Kevin Woo, who provides the singing voice of Mystery Saja in the film, attempted to explain the project’s global appeal.
“I think it’s a culmination of different elements. It’s the storyline of finding your own voice and identity,” he told ABC Audio. “And also, the music really spoke to a lot of people around the world. And it transcends culture and genre and film and music and everything all at once. So I really think it is something special that the world needed at this moment.”
The 2026 Oscars will air on Sunday at 7 p.m. ET on ABC and stream on Hulu.
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