Nominees for the Golden Globes were announced on December 8 and Korean entertainment made a good showing.
The phenomenon that is KPop Demon Hunters scored three nominations: Best Motion Picture – Animated, Cinematic and Box Office Achievement, and unsurprisingly, Best Original Song – Motion Picture for “Golden.”
Additionally, No Other Choice, the latest film from Oldboy and Decision to Leave director Park Chan-wook, earned three nominations as well: Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy for star Lee Byung-hun, (who is also the voice of villain Gwi-Ma in KPop Demon Hunters), and Best Motion Picture – Non-English Language.
Korean entertainment has made inroads to the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s award ceremony in the last decade. Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite made history in 2019 when it scored three nominations and became the first Korean film to win Best Motion Picture – Non-English Language. The hit series Squid Game achieved three nominations in 2021 and O Yeong-su won for Best Supporting Actor – Television.
Squid Game achieved another nomination for Best Television Series – Drama in 2025.
There’s no guarantee that either KPop Demon Hunters or No Other Choice will win at this year’s Golden Globes, but recognition from the Golden Globes is exciting all the same.
No Other Choice makes history with its nomination for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy. This is the first time a Korean film is in competition for one of the main Best Motion Picture awards at the Golden Globes. Parasite made history when it won Best Picture at the Oscars, but due to nomination rules, it could not be nominated for any Best Motion Picture category other than Non-English Language at the Globes. Six years later, No Other Choice is breaking through this barrier.
Additionally, star Lee Byung-hun is the first actor in a Korean film to receive an acting nomination. Given that Park’s film Oldboy can be credited with opening the doors for Korean films into the west, these historic achievements feel well earned.
When interviewed about the nominations for No Other Choice, director Park revealed that he’s a fan of KPop Demon Hunters. The legendary director told Variety (while eating KPDH branded ramyun, no less),
“One of the great joys of this awards campaign has been [running] into [KPop Demon Hunters director] Maggie Kang. I didn’t know her in the past, but having run into her so many times, we’ve become best friends at this point, so I want to congratulate her and her team on the nominations.
“KPop Demon Hunters was actually the first movie that I watched in my redesigned screening room at my house, with an improved sound system and the image system. And it was definitely worth it, because during the climax of the film, where the three members come together on stage, I cried so much. Such emotion is a very much a universal thing for anyone to be able to empathize with. I think this is a film that really, truly utilized the power and the potential that animation as a medium has.
“This is a film that someone who was born and raised in Korea like myself would not have been able to make. I think this was only possible because Maggie is a Korean who was raised in a different country, so she has an objective perspective of Korea, and she also embodies two cultures within her.”
Yes folks, not even the director of some truly messed up movies—like Oldboy and The Handmaiden—can escape the power of KPop Demon Hunters.
No Other Choice and KPop Demon Hunters have the potential to take home three awards each when the Golden Globes are broadcast on January 11, 2026. For the full list of nominations, visit goldenglobes.com.
