KPop Demon Hunters bagged another award at the 2026 Oscars after it won the Original Song for the hit single, “Golden”. This comes after they took home the Best Animated Feature for the hit 2025 animated film.
“Golden” won over the other original songs–– “Dear me”, “I Lied to You”, “Sweet Dreams of Joy”, and “Train Dreams”–– all of which were equally deserving as well.
READ: KPop Demon Hunters director on winning at the Oscars: ‘I didn’t want to disappoint Korea’
The hit song, which has dominated several music charts globally, has seven credited writers apart from singer-songwriter Ejae–– Mark Sonnenblick, Joong Gyu-kwak, Yu Han-lee, Hee Dong-nam, Jeong Hoon-seo, and Teddy Park.
Ejae expressed how thankful she is for the award that was given to their song. She recalled how she was made fun of in the past due to liking KPop–– something that has evolved globally since.
“Growing up, people made fun of me for liking K-pop, but now everyone’s singing our song and all the Korean lyrics,” she shared. “I’m so proud. And I realized, the song, this award is not about success; it’s about resilience.”
She made sure to give credit to everyone who helped her along the way as well, from her family to the staff of KPop Demon Hunters.
“Thank you so much to Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans and our producer, Michelle Wang. Thank you so much for the film. Thank you to Netflix. Thank you Sony Animation,” she expressed.
Prior to winning the award, Ejae performed a brief rendition of the hit song at the Oscars stage alongside Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami. Audiences who were present at the awarding ceremony were energized with the song’s message.
KPop Demon Hunters has won for Best Animated Feature as well, which the film’s director, Maggie Kang, is extremely grateful for as she gets to represent her culture on the world stage.
“You know, I’m just so proud of Korean films and movies about Korea. One of the most emotional moments for me as a filmmaker is watching director Bong Joon-ho win for Parasite. The fact that we have won the Best Animated Feature with a culturally Korean film, it just feels like we have both trophies in both categories. I just feel immensely proud and really, to be honest, I didn’t want to disappoint Korea,” Maggie previously shared.
Meanwhile, the award-winning film is set to have a sequel with Maggie and Chris Appelhans returning as the directors. It is reported to be released sometime in 2029 and preparations for it have already been ongoing.