The K-World Dream Awards is just hours away from going live! Catch your favourite South Korean entertainment A-listers take the stage at the Jamsil Indoor Stadium in Seoul, where talents from the K-pop and K-drama worlds will collide. From music acts Stray Kids to acting icons Byeon Woo Seok, all new-age greats will share the limelight this week, with Netflix’s latest biggest sensation KPop Demon Hunters also finding a way to go live from virtual.

Here’s all you need to know about the K-World Dream Awards 2025:

When and where to watch K-World Dream Awards 2025?

Formerly known as the Soribada Best K-Music Awards, the representative K-culture showcase will go live on Thursday, August 21, 2025. The organising committee has set up live broadcast options for those who can’t attend the ceremony in person. Fans in Japan may turn to the OTT platform U-Next for the live stream, whereas K-pop lovers around the world can watch the show via HelloLive.

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According to the official HelloLive X announcement, the live schedule for this year’s K-World Dream Awards is as follows:

  • Blue Carpet: Thursday, August 21, at 4:30 pm KST or 1 pm IST
  • Main awards: Thursday, August 21, at 6:30 pm KST or 3 pm IST

K-World Dream Awards lineup

This year’s performing lineup makes room for the new-age artists to showcase their talents and make front-page headlines at the latest edition of the K-pop awards show. Some veteran names will also show the world why they are the best in the music business. Artists ready to set fire to the stage are:

  • FIFTY FIFTY
  • triple S
  • Hearts2Hearts
  • Kiii Kiii
  • Park Seo Jin
  • Park Ji Hyeon
  • ILLIT
  • NCT WISH
  • KickFlip
  • AHOF
  • LUCY
  • Xdinary Heroes
  • QWER
  • Dragon Pony
  • BTOB
  • TOMORROW X TOGETHER (TXT)
  • CRAVITY
  • NEWBEAT
  • KANG DANIEL
  • Paul Kim
  • Stray Kids
  • LE SSERAFIM
  • IVE
  • YOUNG POSSE

K-pop’s biggest music awards show has since also revealed that Lovely Runner breakout star Byeon Woo Seok will be gracing the live ceremony as an award presenter on Thursday. Other than that, beloved celebrities Kang You Seok, Go Bo Gyeol, Ryu Kyung Soo, Mun Ka Young, Shin Ji Yeon, Im Soo Hyang and Jung Yu Mi have also been named as star presenters for the evening.

2025 K-World Dream Awards nominations and winners

Last month, KWDA officials announced that the cinematic rivalry between fictional bands HuntRix and Saja Boys of Kpop Demon Hunters fame would be reaching the real global stage. Both their record-breaking tracks “Golden” and “Soda Pop,” respectively, have made it to the Best OST nominees list.

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The same category also puts Resident Playbook soundtrack TXT’s “When the Day Comes” and EXO member Doh Kyung Soo’s “Forever” as rivals eyeing the same title.

While other categories remain under wraps, the show will also present a handful of popularity awards: Girl Group, Boy Group, Girl Solo and Boy Solo.

Moreover, some winning names to be honoured on Thursday went public beforehand. As per previous announcements and reports, the K-World Dream Best Music Award category winners are G-DRAGON, IU, DAY6 and BLACKPINK‘s Rose.

Though first launched in 2017 as the Soribada Best K-Music Awards, the August 21 ceremony marks the 9th year of celebrations for this particular award series.

For more information and updates, head over to the official social media handles of the K-World Dream Awards: @kwda_official on X and @kworldream_official on Instagram.