Kpop Demon Hunters wins Oscars for best animated film and best original song
KPop Demon Hunters, the story of a righteous K-pop girl band, has won Oscars for best animated feature and best original song.
Since its release last year, the Netflix sensation has captivated fans of all ages. Its theme song Golden dominated global music charts, becoming the first-ever K-pop hit to win a Grammy.
Ejae, Rei Ami and Audrey Nuna, who voiced the movie's fictional K-pop trio - Huntr/x - walked down the red carpet in golden gowns, in a nod to the song.
"Growing up, people made fun of me for liking K-pop. But now everyone's singing our song and all the Korean lyrics. I'm so proud," singer Ejae said in an emotional speech as she accepted the best song prize on Sunday.
The three women sang Golden accompanied by dancers in hanbok – South Korea's traditional costume – along with a pansori duo, an indigenous music genre comprising a vocalist and a drummer.
Leonardo DiCarprio and Steven Spielberg were among the Hollywood A-listers waving light sticks, a K-pop concert staple, during the performance.
"I never thought I'd live to see pansori performed in hanbok at the Oscars," read one post on X.
"Whoever came up with the idea of handing out light sticks to the audience deserves an award themselves," read another. "The fact that they got all those legendary directors and actors waving K-pop light sticks and cheering is unbelievable."
Kpop Demon Hunters centres on the girl group Huntr/x who use their voices to fight demons, which includes a five-piece band called the Saja Boys. Their members capture souls with their hypnotic croons.
The soundtrack has produced several hits from these fictional Kpop stars – Golden, most notably, and Soda Pop by the Saja Boys.
The film's directors Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans, and producer Michelle LM Wong, accepted the award for best animated feature.
Kang, a first-time Oscar nominee, said the win was "for Korea and for Koreans everywhere".
"For those of you who look like me, I'm so sorry that it took us so long to see us in a movie like this. But it is here, and that means the next generations don't have to go longing," she said.
South Korea's President Lee Jae Myung congratulated the teams behind KPop Demon Hunters, noting that the film has "transcended borders and language to connect the hearts of people around the world".
"Blending the dynamic energy of K-pop with Korean sensibilities and imaginative storytelling, it has delivered a new kind of enjoyment while further expanding the horizons of our culture," Lee wrote in an X post on Monday.
Referring to one of South Korea's founding fathers Kim Koo, who famously wrote that he wished for Korea to be a nation of culture rather than might, he added, "The vision... is now becoming a reality".
Sunday's double Oscar win is the latest in a series of accolades for the film. It also won the Golden Globe for best animated feature and best original song.
Netflix has already announced a sequel to Kpop Demon Demon Hunters though no release date has been set yet.