Issue No. 1 · August 2026
    iFAMOUSby iFANN

    The monthly record of fame.

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    Issue No. 1 · August 2026

    KRThe Most Famous People in South Korea

    Top 100 of 313 ranked · August 2026 · See today's live standing

    Everyone, living or dead, on one scale: 89 of the 100 listed are living.

    First issue under methodology v5.62. Movement begins with the next issue frozen under the same version.

    Lee Jae Myung, Son Heung-min and six presidents: South Korea ranks politics first

    iFAMOUS Editorial Desk · 1 min read

    South Korea's August 2026 list is led by its president and its football captain, with Jennie and IU the first K-pop names and three dead figures inside the top twelve.

    South Korea's list for August 2026 starts at the top of the state. Lee Jae Myung, president since 2025, leads on a score of 71.3, eleven points clear of Son Heung-min, the national team captain now playing for Los Angeles FC, at 60.4. Jesus Christ is third on 59.2, the highest of three dead names in the fifteen. Yoon Suk Yeol, president from 2022 to 2025, is fourth.

    For a country the world associates first with pop music, the singers arrive later than expected. Jennie of Blackpink is fifth on 55.6 and IU sixth on 53.8, the two most famous living Korean entertainers by this measure. Jung Kook of BTS is ninth, Jang Won-young thirteenth, and Psy, whose fame long predates the current wave, fourteenth. Five K-pop names against seven presidents is the balance of the table.

    Those presidents run deep into the past. Roh Moo-hyun, who died in 2009, is seventh. Moon Jae-in eighth, Park Geun-hye tenth, Park Chung Hee, the third president, twelfth, and Lee Myung-bak fifteenth. Seven occupants of the presidency, two of them dead, sit in a top fifteen with only one athlete besides Son, the Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Lee Kang-in at eleventh.

    The engine measured 313 people. Of the top hundred, 93 are South Korean, drawn from only five countries, and 89 are living, one of the highest living shares of any national table. The country's fame is overwhelmingly its own and overwhelmingly contemporary, and the standard reading still ranks its politics above its idols. The ranking measures worldwide fame, and attention on South Korea in August was on its presidency before its stages.

    RankNameScore
    1
    Lee Jae Myung
    KRpoliticianAlive
    71.3
    2
    Son Heung-min
    KRcelebrityAlive
    60.4
    3
    Jesus Christ
    historical figure
    59.2
    4
    Yoon Suk Yeol
    KRpoliticianAlive
    56.2
    5
    Jennie
    KRcelebrityAlive
    55.6
    6
    IU
    KRcelebrityAlive
    53.8
    7
    Roh Moo-hyun
    KRpolitician
    48.1
    8
    Moon Jae-in
    KRpoliticianAlive
    47.1
    9
    Jung Kook
    KRcelebrityAlive
    44.1
    10
    Park Geun-hye
    KRpoliticianAlive
    42.5
    11
    Lee Kang-in
    KRcelebrityAlive
    42.2
    12
    Park Chung Hee
    KRpolitician
    40.9
    13
    Jang Won-young
    KRcelebrityAlive
    40.1
    14
    Psy
    KRcelebrityAlive
    39.9
    15
    Lee Myung-bak
    KRpoliticianAlive
    39.8
    16
    G-Dragon
    KRcelebrityAlive
    39.1
    17
    Jimin
    KRcelebrityAlive
    38.8
    18
    Rain
    KRcelebrityAlive
    38.0
    19
    Hong Myung-bo
    KRcelebrityAlive
    37.8
    20
    Chun Doo-hwan
    KRpolitician
    36.2
    21
    Yuna Kim
    KRcelebrityAlive
    35.6
    22
    V (Kim Taehyung)
    KRcelebrityAlive
    35.2
    23
    Donald Trump
    USpoliticianAlive
    34.9
    24
    Karina
    KRcelebrityAlive
    34.9
    25
    Jin
    KRcelebrityAlive
    34.7
    26
    Kim Dae-jung
    KRpolitician
    34.7
    27
    Syngman Rhee
    KRpolitician
    34.4
    28
    Park Ji-Sung
    KRcelebrityAlive
    33.8
    29
    Song Ji-hyo
    KRcelebrityAlive
    33.4
    30
    Yoo Jae-suk
    KRcelebrityAlive
    32.9
    31
    Hwasa
    KRcelebrityAlive
    32.3
    32
    J.Y. Park
    KRcelebrityAlive
    32.1
    33
    Han Kang
    KRcelebrityAlive
    32.0
    34
    Kim Soo-hyun
    KRcelebrityAlive
    31.4
    35
    Jisoo
    KRcelebrityAlive
    30.9
    36
    Bae Suzy
    KRcelebrityAlive
    30.2
    37
    Lee Hyori
    KRcelebrityAlive
    29.9
    38
    Kim Ku
    KRpolitician
    29.8
    39
    Jun Ji-hyun
    KRcelebrityAlive
    29.3
    40
    Lionel Messi
    ARcelebrityAlive
    29.0
    41
    Kim Young-sam
    KRpolitician
    28.8
    42
    Go Youn-jung
    KRcelebrityAlive
    28.8
    43
    Kim Min-jae
    KRcelebrityAlive
    28.5
    44
    Cristiano Ronaldo
    PTcelebrityAlive
    28.3
    45
    Son Ye-jin
    KRcelebrityAlive
    28.3
    46
    Cortis
    KRcelebrityAlive
    28.0
    47
    Cha Eun-woo
    KRcelebrityAlive
    27.9
    4827.8
    49
    Kim Go-eun
    KRcelebrityAlive
    27.3
    50
    Daesung
    KRcelebrityAlive
    26.6
    51
    Cho Yeo-jeong
    KRcelebrityAlive
    26.0
    52
    Gong Hyo-jin
    KRcelebrityAlive
    26.0
    53
    Hyuna
    KRcelebrityAlive
    25.7
    54
    Lee Seung-gi
    KRcelebrityAlive
    25.6
    55
    Ha Ji-won
    KRcelebrityAlive
    25.6
    56
    Song Joong-ki
    KRcelebrityAlive
    25.4
    57
    So Ji-sub
    KRcelebrityAlive
    24.9
    58
    Faker
    KRcelebrityAlive
    24.8
    59
    Taeyang
    KRcelebrityAlive
    24.4
    60
    Ban Ki-moon
    KRpoliticianAlive
    24.2
    61
    Yujin
    KRcelebrityAlive
    24.1
    62
    Lee Jong-suk
    KRcelebrityAlive
    23.9
    63
    Ma Dong-seok
    KRcelebrityAlive
    23.8
    64
    Hyun Bin
    KRcelebrityAlive
    23.8
    65
    RM
    KRcelebrityAlive
    23.5
    66
    Jay Park
    KRcelebrityAlive
    23.4
    67
    Han So-hee
    KRcelebrityAlive
    23.4
    68
    Lee Sedol
    KRcelebrityAlive
    23.2
    69
    Yoo Ah-in
    KRcelebrityAlive
    23.0
    70
    An Se-young
    KRcelebrityAlive
    22.8
    71
    Lee Young-ae
    KRcelebrityAlive
    22.8
    72
    Ailee
    KRcelebrityAlive
    22.7
    73
    Shin Min-a
    KRcelebrityAlive
    22.7
    74
    Lee Hye-ri
    KRcelebrityAlive
    22.4
    75
    Kim Ji-won
    KRcelebrityAlive
    22.3
    76
    Justin Bieber
    CAcelebrityAlive
    22.0
    77
    Seungri
    KRcelebrityAlive
    21.9
    78
    SUGA
    KRcelebrityAlive
    21.9
    79
    Lee Byung-hun
    KRcelebrityAlive
    21.7
    80
    Seulgi
    KRcelebrityAlive
    21.5
    81
    BoA
    KRcelebrityAlive
    21.3
    82
    Byeon Woo-seok
    KRcelebrityAlive
    20.7
    83
    Kim You-jung
    KRcelebrityAlive
    20.7
    84
    Park Ji-yeon
    KRcelebrityAlive
    20.4
    85
    Choi Ye-na
    KRcelebrityAlive
    20.3
    86
    Kim Hee-chul
    KRcelebrityAlive
    20.0
    87
    JIHYO
    KRcelebrityAlive
    19.3
    88
    Goo Hara
    KRcelebrity
    19.0
    89
    Hwang Hee-chan
    KRcelebrityAlive
    19.0
    90
    Jang Dong-gun
    KRcelebrityAlive
    18.7
    91
    Haha
    KRcelebrityAlive
    18.6
    92
    Ki Sung-yueng
    KRcelebrityAlive
    18.5
    93
    Taylor Swift
    UScelebrityAlive
    18.5
    94
    Sulli
    KRcelebrity
    18.4
    95
    Han Hyo-joo
    KRcelebrityAlive
    18.2
    96
    Park Bo-young
    KRcelebrityAlive
    17.9
    97
    Han Ga-in
    KRcelebrityAlive
    17.9
    98
    Chey Tae-won
    KRcelebrityAlive
    17.8
    99
    Ahn Jung-hwan
    KRcelebrityAlive
    17.6
    100
    Kim Seol-hyun
    KRcelebrityAlive
    17.6

    About this list

    This list ranks the most famous people connected to South Korea as of August 2026, by overall fame rather than one month's attention: the top 100 of 313 names the rankings measured for South Korea, frozen as the permanent record of that edition. This is the standard reading: everyone, living or dead, on one scale. 89 of the 100 listed are living; the Alive reading restricts the same ranking to living people.

    Lee Jae Myung is No. 1 on this list for August 2026. Behind Lee Jae Myung come Son Heung-min and Jesus Christ. Evidence coverage for this list is high, so its order can be quoted with confidence.

    What famous means here

    Fame, in iFAMOUS, is how widely the world knows a name: how recognisable a person's name, face or work is, and how well people know who they are. It is assessed from extensive historical and current public data, some of it reaching back more than twenty years, and it is not merit, talent, importance or popularity on iFANN. The rankings model real-world global fame, not internet fame; the data is the instrument, not the subject. Activity on iFANN itself is excluded.

    The month in the title is the date of this edition, not the period measured. The list is a snapshot of overall fame as it stood when the issue was frozen: a name does not lose its place because one month was quiet, and a trending moment alone does not put a name here. Trending attention is published separately on ifann.net.

    How the list was ranked

    The iFANN Global Fame Rankings combine worldwide Wikipedia readership across languages, worldwide news coverage and search interest anchored against stable reference names, with search history reaching back to 2004. A twelve-month baseline sits behind the current reading and short-lived surges are capped, so the list reflects durable recognition rather than one week of headlines. Rankings are computed daily on ifann.net and frozen on the second day of the following month as that month's issue; a published issue never changes.

    About South Korea

    South Korea is one of the countries and regions the journal ranks every month. Country lists use the same rankings and the same scale as The 100, so a name can be compared with its neighbours and against the world.

    Powered by iFANN

    iFAMOUS is published by iFANN and powered by the iFANN Global Fame Rankings v5.62. Today's live standing for this list is on ifann.net; the journal freezes it once a month so it can be cited permanently.

    Related searches: most famous people in South Korea 2026, top celebrities in South Korea August 2026, South Korea fame ranking, most famous person in South Korea.

    Cite as
    "Lee Jae Myung, No. 1 on The Most Famous People in South Korea", iFAMOUS No. 1 (August 2026), ifamous.org

    This scope in the journal

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