Netflix's 'K-Pop Demon Hunters' Wins Best Original Song at the 98th Academy Awards

The Netflix animated film 'K-Pop Demon Hunters' (abbreviated as 'KDH') has won the Best Original Song award at the 98th Academy Awards for its OST 'Golden'. However, the acceptance speech was notably brief, leaving some disappointment.

On the 15th (local time), the '98th Academy Awards' took place at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles (LA).

'Golden' from 'KDH' triumphed over other nominees including 'Dear Me' from 'Diane Never Die', 'I Ride to You' from 'Sinners: The Guilty', 'Train Dreams' from 'Dreams of a Train', and 'Sweet Dreams of Joy' from 'Viva Verdi'.

Lee Jae, who performed 'Golden', along with six other team members, took the stage. Lee Jae began his speech by thanking the Academy for the prestigious award. He continued, "Growing up, people teased me for liking K-pop. Now, we are all singing songs with Korean lyrics. I'm proud," and added emotionally, "Like the song, I realized this award is about resilience, not success." After Lee Jae's speech, another team member attempted to speak, but music started playing, signaling them to stop. Some on stage expressed their disappointment by jumping in frustration.

The acceptance speech lasted barely over a minute, giving each of the six members roughly 10 seconds to speak. This brevity was noted by the MCs of the domestic TV broadcast. Ann Hyun-mo remarked, "The short film category was given ample time, but why cut this one short?" Kim Tae-hoon added, "Given the live broadcast, it seems inevitable that time constraints affect the latter part of the show."

In contrast, the preceding Cinematography award allowed for a speech lasting over four minutes, and the Best Actress award that followed also had a speech of similar length.

On the same night, 'KDH' also won the Best Animated Feature award, achieving a double victory.

Reported by Kim Ji-won, TenAsia bella@tenasia.co.kr