Topics
26 stories on soft power across film, TV, music, fashion, food, and diaspora culture.
Browse Goldscene coverage tagged soft power. For how we source and write stories, see our editorial standards.
All seven BTS members said they will not submit for the 2027 Grammys, hoping music can be loved without being divided by region or language, weeks after the Academy created Best Asian Pop Music Performance.
Image: Carolin von Petzholdt (CC BY 3.0)
Chiikawa the Movie: The Secret of the Mermaid Island opened at No. 1 in Japan with about 1.51 million admissions and ¥2.24 billion in three days, after a ¥990 million opening day.
Image: © Nagano / 2026 Chiikawa Movie Production Committee
Teach You a Lesson entered Netflix's all-time non-English Top 10 at No. 10 with 60.2 million views eight weeks after premiere, the first Korean series outside Squid Game to hold a seat on that board.
Image: Netflix
TWICE leader Jihyo posted on Bubble that her heart feels heavy while JYP contract renewal talks continue, promising a careful decision and affirming she loves the group.
Image: David Lee (CC BY 4.0)
Chan Ho Park's Team61 is putting $70 million into the Athletics with Suga, Ken Jeong, and Daniel Dae Kim in the consortium, the first Korean-led stake in an MLB club as the franchise builds toward Las Vegas in 2028.
Image: Yonhap
Arirang jumps 26 to 9 on the Billboard 200 dated Aug. 1 after a special vinyl push and BTS's World Cup final Dynamite set, putting the March album back in the Top 10 four months later.
Image: Big Hit Music
Na Hong-jin's Hope added 767,365 weekend admissions to reach 3.42 million total and held Korea's No. 1 for a second weekend, while advance bookings already tilt toward Spider-Man and Neon still holds September 9.
Image: Korea.net (CC BY-SA 4.0)
KPop Demon Hunters sits at 648.7 million Netflix views, more than twice The Super Mario Bros. Movie, and still ranked fourth in the first half of 2026 with 130.4 million views a year after release.
Image: Korea.net (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Five Asian horror films that build a Halloween runway without a drama dump: Ringu for cursed-media dread, The Wailing for folk fog, Train to Busan for kinetic zombie cinema (plus its August 4K theatrical return), Exhuma for occult blockbuster scale, and Impetigore for Indonesian folklore prestige.
Image: Svetlov Artem (CC BY 3.0)
Five Indian films that train the eye for Ramayana's Diwali 2026 bet: Baahubali 2 for two-part epic scale, RRR for Western crossover heat, KGF Chapter 2 for Yash's mass grammar, Dangal for Nitesh Tiwari's emotional blockbuster, and Ponniyin Selvan I for literary epic craft.
Image: Sriram Narasimhan (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Maggie Kang spent two decades in Hollywood story rooms before selling KPop Demon Hunters to Sony in a week. The Korean Canadian director then became the first filmmaker of South Korean descent to win the Oscar for Best Animated Feature.
Image: Omar David Sandoval Sida (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Agent Kim Reactivated closes tonight with episode 10 on SBS and Netflix after climbing from a 9.5 percent premiere to 23.1 percent and three straight weeks at Netflix non-English No. 1. The short run was the flex.
Image: SBS
After IVE’s Bang Bang took Melon daily No. 1 from BTS’s SWIM, some ARMYs alleged a multi-fandom reverse-streaming plot. Melon showed no UL spike. Netizens dug up 2023 reverse-stream calls aimed at NewJeans’ Ditto.
Image: Big Hit Music
Jennie’s first solo single of 2026, Less than a Lover, lands while her Tame Impala remix still sits at Hot 100 No. 5 and Pop Airplay No. 1. Festival soft-launch, then a quiet song about wanting less intimacy.
Image: Odd Atelier / Columbia Records
Omega named Shin Min-a a brand ambassador on July 23, putting her on a Korean roster that already includes Hyun Bin and Park Bo-gum. The wrist is a 30 mm Aqua Terra in Moonshine Gold with a green dial, soft status for the streaming drama audience.
Image: OMEGA
San Diego’s Thursday Gundam stream named Mobile Suit Gundam RG XARX-ZERO, a 2027 TV anime from Kenji Kamiyama set in a new After Apocalypse timeline that already shares continuity with Gundam Rogue Orbit.
Image: SUNRISE / SOLA ANIMATION / Bandai Namco Filmworks
Na Hong-jin’s Hope lands in Ballroom 20 at 4:30 p.m. PT with Jung Ho-yeon introducing and exclusive footage ahead of Neon’s September 9 North American release. Same Thursday stage as Ramayana, different soft-power bet.
Image: Neon / Plus M Entertainment
Vijay’s 69th and final film hits theaters worldwide on July 23 after CBFC delays and a spring leak, with the actor already months into office as Tamil Nadu chief minister. The release joins a rare MGR-era parallel more than a normal opening weekend.
Image: KiranSaphoto (CC BY-SA 4.0)
On their fourth debut anniversary, NewJeans dropped 2026 Summer of NewJeans films and photos with Minji, Hanni, Haerin, and Hyein. ADOR calls it a gift for Bunnies; the schedule still waits on finished talks.
Image: ADOR / NewJeans
Head in the Clouds returns August 8 at Brookside at the Rose Bowl with KATSEYE headlining a one-day bill that also includes XG, Rich Brian, Dabin Remix, and UMI. The interesting part is the identity flip: HITC used to prove Asia could top an LA festival; the top of the bill is now a HYBE-Geffen global group already fluent in Coachella and Hot 100 math.
Image: Goldenvoice / 88rising
Jun Ji-hyun's summer is a stacked career, not a single award night: My Sassy Girl in 4K, Colony from Cannes Midnight to 5.91 million admissions to NYAFF's first Korean actress Extraordinary Star Asia honor, Well Go USA theaters on August 28, and Human X Gumiho already booked for Amazon Prime in 2027.
Image: Republic of Korea (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Goldscene's July 2026 Soft Power Index ranks who converted attention into lasting influence across BTS's World Cup final halftime and Paris stadium run, Jun Ji-hyun's Colony stack, luxury ambassador weeks, Hope's argument-driven box office, and KATSEYE's HITC setup.
Image: Kenneth C. Zirkel (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Na Hong-jin's Hope crossed about 2.13 million Korean admissions in five days, the fastest pace of 2026, while Naver scores split between love and hostility. The same Monday, NYAFF screens it as centrepiece with Na collecting the Daniel A. Craft Award, months before Neon's September 9 North American release.
Image: Gabriel Hutchinson (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Goldscene's June 2026 Soft Power Index tracks who converted attention into cultural influence across SMA week, girl-group chart heat, residency gravity, and comeback windows for North American diaspora audiences.
Image: Supercarwaar / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Goldscene's Soft Power Index tracks which Asian entertainers converted attention into cultural influence this week across music, fashion, and streaming.
Image: Outhere505 (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Asian entertainers are no longer crossing over into Western fame. They are building parallel global careers that luxury, streaming, and social platforms now treat as the default model for star power.
Image: Sian Lilly (CC BY 3.0)
Mina Park
Anika Rao
The Goldscene Desk