Lee Hae-in in a Gat, K-pop on Ice: How Are Royalties Paid? [2026 Milano]

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[Financial News] The 2026 Winter Olympics Milano Cortina will open on the 7th (Korea time), kicking off 17 days of official competition. Expectations are high for medals in ice sports in particular, and South Korea is sending a delegation of about 130 athletes to compete in multiple events.
In figure skating, often called the crown jewel of the Winter Games, Cha Jun-hwan will challenge for gold in the men’s singles. Kim Hyun-gyeom in the men’s singles, Lee Hae-in and Shin Ji-a in the women’s singles, and the ice dance team of Lim Hae-na and Quan Ye will all be making their Olympic debuts.
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Music is an indispensable part of the Olympics. From Paul McCartney’s “Hey Jude” at the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics to the use of video game soundtracks at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, music has become a core element that symbolizes the identity of each Games.
Recently, K-pop has moved beyond opening and closing ceremonies or one-off performances and is being actively used in actual competitions, especially as program music in figure skating. Its range of use is steadily expanding.
Figure skating is a sport where the combination of music and movement directly affects scores. At the gala exhibition of this year’s ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships, Rosé’s “Apartment (APT.)” and the Squid Game original soundtrack rang out in the arena. Skaters from China and Canada also chose K-pop for their programs, showing a trend that transcends national borders.
The song “Your Idol” from K-pop Demon Hunters, which Lee Hae-in selected for her gala program, is a symbolic example of this trend. She performed in the costume of the in-story group Lion Boys, complete with a traditional Korean gat, and the performance video has drawn attention with more than 3.5 million views on YouTube.
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So when Korean music is played on an international sports stage, through whose hands do the royalties pass before they reach the creators? In short, even music used on the other side of the world is fully settled according to established procedures.
Under the Copyright Act, the principle of territoriality applies, meaning each country’s own law governs usage within its borders. Accordingly, all royalties for music used at the 2026 Winter Olympics Milano Cortina are collected by the local collective management organization SIAE, based on Italian copyright law.
When Korean music is used in a competition venue, SIAE collects the fees and then transfers them to the Korean Music Copyright Association (KOMCA). KOMCA in turn distributes the corresponding amounts to domestic creators.
The same principle applies to international events held in Korea. Music used in Korea is managed under the Korean Copyright Act and KOMCA’s collection rules. The same procedures were followed to collect royalties at major events such as the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang and the ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships held in Seoul. During the Pyeongchang Games, about 7,900 tracks were used across all events, and music was broadcast roughly 45,000 times.
As K-pop spreads globally, the amount of royalties collected overseas has been rising rapidly. According to KOMCA, overseas music royalties in 2025 totaled about 47.8 billion won, up 26.5% from the previous year.
A KOMCA official noted, “The ways music is used at sports events at home and abroad are becoming more diverse, and the number of usage applications is also increasing,” and added, “We will continue to monitor and respond so that our music and creators receive fair compensation wherever in the world their works are used.”
jashin@fnnews.com Reporter Shin Jin-a Reporter