Dannyka Manangan

KPop Demon Hunters director on winning at the Oscars: ‘I didn’t want to disappoint Korea’

Article (news)

Peter Andrew Acierto

Push Team

<p>The hit 2025 animated film, <em>KPop Demon Hunters</em>, just bagged the award for Best Animated Feature at the 2026 Oscars earlier today, March 16 (Philippine Time). They bested the other nominees in the same category–– <em>Arco</em>, <em>Elio</em>, <em>Little Amélie or the Character of Rain</em>, and <em>Zootopia 2</em>.</p><div><br/></div><div><iframe width="795" height="447" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/X5AqywbwReM" title="KPop Demon Hunters Best Animated Feature Film Press Room Speech | 98th Oscars (2026)" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div><div><br/></div><p><em>KPop Demon Hunters</em>’ win at the Oscars marked their winning streak for best animated film, having already won at the Golden Globes, the Critics’ Choice Awards, and the PGA Awards, among others. </p><div><br/></div><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/entertainment/showbiz/celebrities/2025/10/20/kpop-demon-hunters-arden-cho-reveals-how-the-film-ignited-her-passion-to-act-again-1639"><strong>READ: KPop Demon Hunters’ Arden Cho reveals how the film ignited her passion to act again</strong></a></div><div><br/></div><p>In their press room speech after winning the award, film director Maggie Kang expressed the pride she felt in being able to represent her culture on the world stage. She recalled how emotional she felt when South Korean director Bong Joon-ho won the Best Director at the 2020 Oscars.</p><p>“You know, I’m just so proud of Korean films and movies about Korea. One of the most emotional moments for me as a filmmaker is watching director Bong Joon-ho win for <em>Parasite. T</em>he fact that we have won the Best Animated Feature with a culturally Korean film, it just feels like we have both trophies in both categories. I just feel immensely proud and really, to be honest, I didn’t want to disappoint Korea,” she expressed.</p><div><br/></div><div><br/></div><div><iframe class="instagram-media instagram-media-rendered" id="instagram-embed-0" src="https://www.instagram.com/p/DV7HSoaAStq/embed/captioned/?cr=1&amp;v=14&amp;wp=540&amp;rd=https%3A%2F%2Fod2-workbench-web.abs-cbn.com&amp;rp=%2F#%7B%22ci%22%3A0%2C%22os%22%3A76366.19999998808%2C%22ls%22%3A75298.90000003576%2C%22le%22%3A75706.10000002384%7D" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="" frameBorder="0" height="986" data-instgrm-payload-id="instagram-media-payload-0" scrolling="no" style="background:white;max-width:540px;width:calc(100% - 2px);border-radius:3px;border:1px solid rgb(219, 219, 219);box-shadow:none;display:block;margin:0px 0px 12px;min-width:326px;padding:0px"></iframe></div><script async="" src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script><div><br/></div><div><br/></div><p>As a fan of KPop since the 90s, Maggie takes pride in how <em>KPop Demon Hunters</em> was able to showcase Korean culture and bring it to the world. </p><p>“To see it really kind of just be loved by audiences globally, it just means so much to me. It was just really a real honor for me to be able to feature all aspects of my culture that I love.  For it to be accepted and loved globally by other cultures, it’s just so meaningful as a Korean filmmaker,” she added.</p><div><br/></div><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/entertainment/showbiz/events/2026/3/13/-kpop-demon-hunters-star-ahn-hyo-seop-to-attend-oscars-1734"><strong>READ: ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ star Ahn Hyo-seop to attend Oscars</strong></a></div><div><br/></div><p>She hopes that other cultures would also have their moment and believes that more animation should be done to highlight them. “I just hope to see more films especially in animation that focus on different cultures because I think we really need that especially in animation,” she ended.</p><p>Meanwhile, the award-winning film is set to have a sequel with Maggie and Chris Appelhans returning as the directors. It is reported to be released sometime in 2029 and preparations for it have already been ongoing. </p>

<p>Maggie Kang beamed with pride as her film, KPop Demon Hunters, bags the award for Best Animated Feature at the Oscars. </p>

Maggie Kang beamed with pride as her film, KPop Demon Hunters, bags the award for Best Animated Feature at the Oscars.