AI-vocal song by Meomuru reaches No. 3 on Melon Top 100 as Korea's AI copyright debate resurfaces

A song sung by an AI voice has climbed to third place on Melon's Top 100, Korea's biggest streaming chart. As of the afternoon of 14 October 2026, "The Adult I Dreamed Of" by the act Meomuru sat behind only Soyeon and Rescene. It was released in June and first spread as background music in short-form videos on Korean social media.

“To me, AI is a modern instrument and a partner that helps bring my imagination into reality”

Meomuru, artist, in their YouTube channel description · koreaherald.com ↗

The vocals were generated with Suno, while Meomuru says they wrote the lyrics and directed the production. Indonesia's detikPop noted the track entered the chart at No. 62 on 24 September, ahead of BTS, Lim Young Woong and DAY6. Another AI-assisted act, Joseon Hiphop, reached No. 89 with "Forest of the Heart", which pairs human concept and lyrics with AI composition and vocals.

Listeners are divided. Some see no problem when a person wrote the words and steered the work; others feel uneasy and want AI involvement labelled. Industry officials told the Herald that judging the human and AI shares of a song depends mostly on what creators choose to disclose, so clearer criteria are needed, and one raised the question of protecting artists whose work trained the models. Korean streaming platforms currently have no rule requiring such disclosure.

The copyright side remains unsettled. Korean law protects only human creative contribution, and purely AI-generated material is not copyrightable. In August the Korea Music Copyright Association set criteria for registering AI-assisted works with a substantive human role, then withdrew them 22 days later for lack of consensus. The National Assembly discussed AI-work policy on 22 September without a decision, and no formal standard exists yet.