Seventy-five finalists announced for 2026 Korea Hallyu Entertainment Awards

JK Fandom has named 75 finalists from 204 candidates following preliminary voting for the 2026 Korea Hallyu Entertainment Awards. Final voting for the eight categories begins at noon on October 26 and will run until November 4.

JK Fandom, a global fandom support platform operated by Fan Communications Global, announced that the preliminary fan voting for the ‘2026 Korea Hallyu Entertainment Awards,’ which began on October 12, concluded on October 23, determining the finalists for each category. Final voting is scheduled to begin at noon on October 26.

The ‘2026 Korea Hallyu Entertainment Awards’ fan voting spans eight categories. Starting at noon on October 26, final voting will be conducted through JK Fandom and Rematch.

A total of 204 candidates across eight categories, including actors, idols, and trot singers, competed in the preliminaries, resulting in 75 finalists (individuals, teams, or songs) advancing to the final round.

The finalists for the Popular Actor category are Kim Nam-gil, Kim Soo-hyun, Do Kyung-soo, Moon Sang-min, Park Bo-gum, Byeon Woo-seok, Seo In-guk, Lee Je-hoon, Ji Chang-wook, and Cha Eun-woo.

The finalists for the Popular Actor category are Minju, Kim Hye-yoon, Nana, Park Eun-bin, Suzy, IU, Jisoo, and Jin Ki-joo.

The finalists for the Popular Trot category are Kim Yong-bin, Park Ji-hyun, Son Bin-a, Son Tae-jin, Yang Ji-won, Lim Young-woong, Jang Min-ho, Jang Han-byeol, Hwanhee, and Hwang Young-woong.

The finalists for the Popular Trot category are Gil Ryeo-won, Kim Da-hyun, Kim Eui-young, Song Ga-in, Yang Ji-eun, Eun Ga-eun, Jang Yoon-jeong, and Jeon Yoo Jin.

The finalists for the KPOP Idol Popularity category are RIIZE, BTS, SEVENTEEN, SKOSIZM, AHOF, EXO, n.SSign, ONE PACT, JUST B, and PLAVE.

In the KPOP Idol Popularity category, 11 teams advanced to the finals due to a tie. The finalists are RESCENE, BabyMonster, BLACKPINK, Girls' Generation, STAYC, Apink, ISEGYE IDOL, ITZY, Kiss of Life, fromis_9, and Hades.

The finalists for the Rising Popularity category are BIDUN, SKINZ, Alpha Drive One, UNCHILD, MBO, WE GO SIX, KEYBITUP, and HYPE PRINCESS.

The finalist songs for the Popular Music category are ‘Only You’ by Kim Yong-bin, ‘SWIM’ by BTS, ‘BiiiG’ by BIGBANG, ‘Operation Pure Love’ by AHOF, ‘DANCE ON THE EARTH’ by n.SSign, ‘White’ by ISEGYE IDOL, ‘Tto Tto’ by Lim Young-woong, ‘Born Savage’ by PLAVE, ‘Second Earth’ by Hades, and ‘If You Love’ by Hwang Young-woong.

Final voting will run from noon on October 26 until 3:00 PM on November 4. Participation is available through the applications of both JK Fandom and Rematch, and votes from both platforms will be aggregated. During the final period, one free vote per account is provided daily.

The first-place winner in each category will receive an official ‘2026 Korea Hallyu Entertainment Awards’ award. The ceremony will be held on November 29 at the Grand Conference Room, National Assembly Members’ Office Building. Winners will also receive an integrated advertisement in New York Times Square (displaying the award title and artist visuals) and a BNT media marketing package (including exclusive articles on winners and global promotional marketing articles).

Hosted by the Korea Best Brand Association and organized by the Brand Value Research Institute, the ‘2026 Korea Hallyu Entertainment Awards’ is a global fan-participatory award project where winners are determined solely by fan voting results, rather than album sales, broadcast scores, or expert evaluations. Real-time voting status is available through the integrated voting website, and further details can be found in the voting information on the voting page.

Read the original (Korean)