February 3, 2026
SEOUL – “Golden,” a soundtrack from Netflix’s animated film “KPop Demon Hunters,” marked a historic moment for the K-pop industry by becoming its first Grammy-winning song at the 68th Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, Sunday.
The track won best song written for visual media, making it the first Grammy victory associated with K-pop — a milestone that even BTS, the genre’s most globally recognized act, failed to secure despite three previous nominations in different categories. The award is given to songwriters rather than performers, making Ejae, Teddy, 24 and Ido — who participated in writing and producing “Golden” — official Grammy winners.
While the win is widely seen as a breakthrough for K-pop, critics have offered a more nuanced assessment, pointing out that the recognition did not come from a general field category and that the winning song was not a conventional K-pop release.
“KPop Demon Hunters” is a US-produced animated film directed by Korean Canadian filmmaker Maggie Kang, using K-pop as its narrative motif. “Golden” is closer to a K-pop-inspired pop track than a traditional K-pop release rooted in Korea’s idol system, according to music critic Lim Hee-yun. He believes the achievement owed much to the film’s global reach.
“It is meaningful that K-pop songwriters won their first Grammy,” Lim said. “While the category is not part of the general field and therefore carries less symbolic weight, the film introduced K-pop to audiences who may not have been familiar with or deeply invested in the genre. That exposure itself has positive value.”
However, Lim questioned whether “Golden” should be considered K-pop in the strict sense.
“I see ‘Golden’ as an American pop song,” he said. “’KPop Demon Hunters’ is a US-made project that incorporates Korean elements. Musically, it follows American pop conventions, and the structure — with Ejae as a lead vocalist rather than a traditional idol group dynamic — is not particularly K-pop-like.”
Cultural critic Jung Deok-hyun offered a similar interpretation, describing the Grammy win as a sign of K-pop’s transformation into a more globalized form of pop music.
“‘Golden’ shows how K-pop is evolving,” Jeong said. “When you remove the ‘K,’ it becomes closer to pop. The song sounds more like American pop than K-pop, which likely made it more accessible and successful.”
Still, Jeong cautioned that the genre’s growing alignment with global pop standards raises difficult questions.
“The positive side is that K-pop has reached a musical standard recognized by the Grammys,” he said. “The concern is whether K-pop’s distinctive identity and emotional characteristics are gradually being diluted in the process.”