Kim Soo-hyun Confirmed as Presenter at 2026 TMA, Marking First Domestic Appearance in 18 Months

Actor Kim Soo-hyun will take the stage at the 2026 The Fact Music Awards (TMA) on September 19 as a presenter, the awards organizing committee confirmed on the 28th. The venue is Busan Asiad Main Stadium, and his last confirmed appearance on a domestic public stage was a press conference in March of last year, making this his first return to the Korean spotlight in roughly 18 months.

For fans who have been tracking every update since he stepped back from activities, the confirmation is a significant one. Presenter roles are relatively low-key by ceremony standards, but showing up at all is the signal most people have been waiting for.

A career that earned the anticipation

Kim Soo-hyun made his debut in 2007 through the MBC drama Kimchi Cheese Smile, but the role that truly put him on the map was Song Sam-dong in KBS2's Dream High in 2011. From there the career moves were rarely small: MBC's The Moon That Embraces the Sun pulled a peak nationwide household rating of 42.2% (Nielsen Korea), and the heist film The Thieves crossed 10 million admissions at the domestic box office.

His international profile hit a different level with My Love from the Star, where he played Do Min-joon and became one of the first Korean actors to generate a genuine pan-Asian cultural moment. More recently, tvN's Queen of Tears became the highest-rated tvN weekend drama in the channel's history, peaking at 24.9%.

What happened, and what's changed

Kim Soo-hyun's activities effectively paused last year after allegations surfaced concerning a past relationship with the late actress Kim Sae-ron, who was a minor at the time. The claims were amplified by the YouTube channel Garo Sero Research Institute and its head, Kim Se-eui.

Kim Se-eui has since been indicted on charges including violation of the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection (defamation), and Kim Soo-hyun received a disposition of no charges on allegations related to the Child Welfare Act. With the legal picture clarified, his team began cautiously rebuilding his public presence.

That rebuilding has moved gradually and mostly overseas. On the 23rd (local time), he appeared on a special live broadcast celebrating the 37th anniversary of RCTI, Indonesia's largest private broadcaster. Looking further ahead, October brings a fan meeting for roughly 20,000 attendees at SM Mall of Asia Arena in Manila, Philippines, tied to his role as a model for local fashion brand Bench.

The TMA appearance on September 19 is the first step back on home ground, and given what he's built over the past fifteen years, it's a step a lot of people will be watching.