The Korean entertainment industry is preparing for a major resurgence in 2026 as blockbuster projects across music, television, and film promise to revitalize a sector that experienced mixed results in 2025. While last year saw Korean content like the animated film KPop Demon Hunters expand the global reach of K-pop beyond traditional fan communities, the industry also faced significant challenges including declining album sales for a second consecutive year and a particularly difficult period for Korean cinema, with only one domestic film—My Daughter Is a Zombie—surpassing 5 million theater admissions. As the Year of the Red Horse begins, industry insiders are optimistic that high-profile comebacks and massive productions could mark a turning point for Hallyu culture worldwide.
K-pop's biggest story in 2026 is the long-awaited return of BTS, with all seven members having completed their mandatory military service and finished production on a new studio album slated for spring release. This marks the group's first full album and world tour in four years, generating enormous anticipation among the global ARMY fanbase. Leader RM recently expressed the group's ambitious vision, telling fans, "Let's make 2026 the year of BTS. Something really big is coming," signaling strong confidence ahead of their comeback. Fellow supergroup BLACKPINK will also release a new full album in the first half of the year, their first since 2022's Born Pink, following a successful world tour in 2025. Third-generation K-pop pioneers EXO will return to the stage on January 19th with their first new music in over two years, while BIGBANG will celebrate their 20th debut anniversary with a performance at the prestigious Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in April as a three-member unit. The year will also showcase rising rookie groups that debuted in 2025, including Cortis, Hearts2Hearts, KickFlip, AllDay Project, and Kiikii, while new boy bands like Alpha Drive One—formed through Mnet's Boys II Planet—will debut on January 12th. Additional newcomers are expected from A2O Entertainment, founded by legendary producer Lee Soo-man, and YUHZ, created through SBS's Be My Boyz audition program.
The television and streaming landscape is set to deliver a wave of content based on established intellectual property, with studios increasingly adapting webtoons, novels, and films to minimize risk. Highly anticipated new series include Disney's romance-fantasy The Remarried Empress, SBS's drama Manager Kim starring So Ji-sub, and Netflix adaptations of True Education and Field Mouse. Several successful shows will also return for new seasons, including Yumis Cells on Tving, A Shop for Killers on Disney+, All of Us Are Dead on Netflix, and Good Partner on SBS. Historical and genre diversity will be prominent, with Netflix's Slowly and Intensely—written by acclaimed screenwriter Noh Hee-kyung—exploring Korea's entertainment industry from the 1960s to 1980s, while MBC's Perfect Crown presents an alternate constitutional monarchy romance starring Byeon Woo-seok and IU. KBS will continue its tradition of historical epics with Munmu, focusing on the Silla Dynasty's unification, and three baseball-themed dramas—Gift on tvN, Your Ground on MBC, and Full Count on SBS—are already generating early buzz.
Korean cinema, which endured one of its most challenging years in recent memory, is pinning its hopes on director Na Hong-jin's ambitious new film Hope, scheduled for summer release with a massive 100 billion won ($77 million) budget. The project marks Na's first feature in a decade following his acclaimed thriller The Wailing and stars an impressive cast including Hwang Jung-min, Zo In-sung, Jung Ho-yeon, and Hollywood actors Alicia Vikander and Michael Fassbender. Set in an isolated village near the Demilitarized Zone, the film follows residents confronting a mysterious extraterrestrial being and is positioned to compete at the summer box office against Christopher Nolan's Odyssey adaptation. Director Ryoo Seung-wan's Humint will also draw attention with its story of a South Korean intelligence officer (Zo In-sung) clashing with a North Korean security agent (Park Jung-min) near Vladivostok, while Yeon Sang-ho returns to the zombie genre ten years after Train to Busan with Swarm, starring Jun Ji-hyun and Koo Kyo-hwan, depicting survivors trapped in a quarantined building as infected victims evolve unpredictably.
Actor Yoo Hae-jin will headline two major theatrical releases this year, starring in Jang Hang-jun's The Man Who Lives With the King, about a village head who befriends a deposed young monarch, and Hur Jin-ho's The Assassins alongside Park Hae-il and Lee Min-ho, which dramatizes the incident involving the death of Yuk Young-soo. Several sequels to past blockbusters are also in production, including director Yoon Je-kyun's Ode to My Father 2 and the fourth installment of the Tazza franchise, Tazza: The Song of Beelzebub. Meanwhile, auteur director Lee Chang-dong's new film Possible Love, featuring an all-star cast of Jeon Do-yeon, Sol Kyung-gu, Zo In-sung, and Cho Yeo-jeong, is expected to premiere on Netflix and is already being discussed as a strong candidate for the Venice International Film Festival.
Industry analysts suggest that 2026 could represent a critical inflection point for Korean entertainment as it navigates the challenges of a rapidly changing global media landscape. The convergence of major K-pop comebacks, big-budget film productions, and strategically developed television content demonstrates a concerted effort to reclaim momentum after a year of uncertainty. With Netflix's growing dominance continuing to reshape traditional broadcasting models and theatrical recovery remaining uncertain, the success of these high-profile projects may determine the trajectory of K-culture's global influence for years to come. The combination of established superstars returning to the spotlight and innovative new talent emerging across all sectors suggests a dynamic year ahead for one of the world's most influential cultural exports.
