'KPop' songwriters finish Oscar acceptance speech in press room, call win 'an incredible honor'
LOS ANGELES -- "Golden," from "KPop Demon Hunters," won the Academy Award for Best Original Song on Sunday night, becoming the first song in the K-pop genre to win an Oscar.
The award-winning co-writers include Mark Sonnenblick, Joong Gyu Kwak, Yu Han Lee, Hee Dong Nam, Jeong Hoon Seo, Teddy Park, and EJAE, who provides the singing voice for the character Rumi.
During their acceptance speech onstage, EJAE was overcome with emotion.
"Growing up, people made fun of me for liking K-pop, but now everyone's singing our song and all the Korean lyrics," she said through tears. "I'm so proud."
Later, in the press room, the songwriters finished their speech by sharing more thanks and gratitude for their friends and colleagues.
Yu Han thanked his family and fellow writers, calling this "an incredible honor."
Sonnenblick thanked his husband and also the entire team of animators.
"It was a real collaboration across the board," he said. "A part of the movie is about looking at someone you've been taught to hate and fear. And starting to trust, maybe even love, them. And that's part of what the movie is about. It's not, 'I'm going up up up.' It's, 'We're going up up up.' This whole movie is a great collaboration."
EJAE gave shout outs to her fellow performers Rei Ami and Audrey Nuna, who voiced the singing parts alongside her in the film.
Before the award was handed out, there was a performance of "Golden" with a fusion of traditional Korean instrumentalists and dance, with performers in gold waving golden fabric flags. Then Ejae, Nuna and Ami belted out the song as members of the audience waved light sticks.
"I was very nervous, but it was such an honor to be performing, it's such an incredible stage," EJAE said. "It was not on my bucket list because I did not think it was possible."
The Korean American said it was an "incredible experience" to honor their ancestors by beginning their performance with Korean traditional music.
Later in the night, at the Vanity Fair after-party, Nuna shared that she was feeling hopeful.
"I'm so freaking good, so proud," she said. "I'm just overjoyed."
Nuna, who provides the singing voice for Mira in the film, said she felt that host O'Brien's speech was inspirational in its reference to hope in chaotic times.
"It doesn't feel like we have the space for it," she said, "but it really is important to show that there's hope, and I think with this song being so hopeful and this message of 'Kpop Demon Hunters' being so hopeful, it just feels like a celebration, of diversity, representation, just all the good (stuff)."
And while Nuna regretted that the show had cut off one of the songwriters during the acceptance speech, she said it hadn't ruined the night.
"I think that our team has such good camaraderie that we understand it's bigger than those small moments," she said.
In addition to the award for "Golden," the film's director, Maggie Kang, became the first filmmaker of South Korean descent to win in the Best Animated Feature category.
Take a look at the latest stories and videos about the 2026 Oscars here.
ABC News and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
