ATEEZ Lead a Wide-Open Night at the 2026 K-World Dream Awards

The 2026 K-World Dream Awards spread its biggest honors across generations of K-pop on Thursday, with ATEEZ emerging as the most-decorated act of the night.

ATEEZ collected four awards at the ceremony in Goyang, including Best Stage, an Artist Award and the fan-voted Group Popularity Award. The group closed its night with Best Artist, one of the ceremony’s top honors, alongside LE SSERAFIM.

BTS did not need to be in the building to leave with one of the night’s biggest results. The group won Artist of the Year, along with a Best Album Award and an Artist Award. The three wins brought BTS to 13 awards across the ceremony’s history, making the group its most-awarded act to date.

LE SSERAFIM finished with three trophies of their own. In addition to Best Artist, the group received Best Visual Content and an Artist Award. RIIZE also collected three, taking Best Performance, the Journalist Pick Artist Award and an Artist Award.

The night also gave newer acts plenty of room to make an impression. Hearts2Hearts received the Global Music Award and an Artist Award, while member Carmen won the female Solo Popularity Award. CORTIS, AND2BLE and ALPHA DRIVE ONE each received a Super Rookie Award as well as an Artist Award.

Elsewhere, ILLIT won Best Stage, Group Popularity and an Artist Award. P1Harmony joined ATEEZ and ILLIT among the Best Stage recipients, while the Best Album field included BTS, BLACKPINK, ENHYPEN, NCT WISH and TOMORROW X TOGETHER.

The ceremony also reflected just how broad its definition of K-pop has become after 10 years. QWER and Hi-Fi Un!corn were recognized as Best Band Artists; JAY B and EVAN received Best All-Rounder Musician; and the Best Digital Music field included AKMU, Hwasa, I.O.I, IVE, aespa and Yena.

ATEEZ, LE SSERAFIM, P1Harmony, RIIZE, ILLIT, QWER, MEOVV, Hearts2Hearts, xikers, KiiiKiii, ALPHA DRIVE ONE and other artists performed during the ceremony, with Jun Hyun Moo and Jang Do Yeon returning as hosts.

The awards marked the 10th year of a ceremony that began as the Soribada Best K-Music Awards in 2017, later returned as the K-Global Heart Dream Awards and adopted its current K-World Dream Awards name in 2024.

For a show built around celebrating the people who have helped shape K-pop’s growth, the results made that anniversary feel particularly visible: one of the genre’s biggest veteran acts took Artist of the Year without attending, ATEEZ led the night in trophies, and some of K-pop’s youngest groups left with multiple awards of their own.