2026 Ground Forces Festival: Actors and Idols in Uniform

Eight familiar faces, one uniformed group photo: the 2026 Ground Forces Festival brought actors and K-pop singers into the same frame. Kim Young Dae, Rowoon, SEVENTEEN's Woozi and MONSTA X's I.M are among the names in AsiaOne's October 6 roundup. The festival ran October 1–5 in Gyeryong, according to the official organiser. The mixed dance stages are the real draw, with singers from different groups sharing one song, while Kim's short-haired appearance drew a fresh round of compliments online.

What the 2026 Ground Forces Festival included

The event took place over five days at the Gyeryongdae runway in South Chungcheong Province. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism's listing describes a public festival hosted by the Army with free admission. Its programme included military bands and honour guards, taekwondo demonstrations, Army performance teams and a road parade, alongside equipment exhibitions and demonstrations.

The ministry also listed demonstrations of Army TIGER and drone systems, plus displays of combat technology using AI. The stars are why most fans are looking this festival up, but on the programme they were one item among bands, demonstrations and exhibitions.

KFN has an opening ceremony recording labelled October 1. The festival closed on October 5, so if you missed it, the photos and clips still circulating are the way to catch up.

Woozi, I.M, Rowoon and the photo of eight stars

According to AsiaOne, iKON's DK shared the photograph on Instagram on October 5. The eight people pictured are Kim Young Dae, I.M, Woozi, Kang Daniel, former NU'EST member Baekho, actor Song Geon Hee, DK and actor and singer Rowoon. The outlet also identifies Lee Jun Young at the festival; he is outside that photograph's roster.

Quick note if the names trip you up: SEVENTEEN also has a DK, but the DK here is iKON's; SEVENTEEN's member in this photo is Woozi. That one frame pulls in several fandoms at once, and our fandom names guide covers the communities behind the group names.

FNC Entertainment's statement, reproduced by Soompi, set Rowoon's enlistment as an active duty soldier for October 27, 2025. His festival appearance came less than a year after that scheduled start.

I.M's own send-off had a different group around him. Soompi reproduced MONSTA X's official February 9, 2026 post showing his bandmates sending him off as he began Army training. Eight months later, the festival photo has him among performers from several groups instead, and that change of company is half the charm.

Kang Daniel's agency ARA also announced a February 9, 2026 enlistment, Yonhap reported. Woozi and Rowoon's announced starts were in 2025; I.M and Daniel's were in 2026. Three enlistment dates across two years, one photo: that is why the frame reads like a reunion.

Super, Rhythm Ta and eight years of K-pop

AsiaOne reports Woozi dancing to SEVENTEEN's “Super” with Kang Daniel, I.M, Baekho and fellow servicemen. Its performance roundup also names iKON's “Love Scenario” and “Rhythm Ta”, plus MONSTA X's “Love Killa”. “Rhythm Ta” dates to 2015 and “Super” to 2023 — eight years between those releases. The October 2 fan post embedded in that report supplies one of the circulating performance clips.

Woozi's performance comes with a poignant comparison. On September 15, 2025, Yonhap reported that he was beginning service and had watched SEVENTEEN's Incheon stop of the New_ tour from the audience the previous day. In a Weverse message quoted by the news agency, he described the happiness of seeing his members and CARAT enjoy music he had created from outside the stage.

More than a year later, the festival places him in a performance of his group's song with a different set of colleagues. That, more than the uniform, is why the clip lands: a year ago he watched his members perform music he made from the audience, and now he is the one performing it, with a very different lineup.

PLEDIS's official service notice said Woozi would be absent from SEVENTEEN's group activities during his service, with prerecorded content continuing to reach CARAT. So this is not a SEVENTEEN appearance, and CARAT shouldn't read it as one. It is something rarer: a one-off lineup built around a familiar track.

Kim Young Dae's clips bring fresh attention to his hair

TenAsia reported on October 6 that festival photos and videos of Kim were circulating on social media, drawing compliments for his short hairstyle and uniformed appearance. Readers who recognise him from Sh**ting Stars or The Penthouse can find more of his work in our Kim Young Dae drama guide.

The TikTok connection appears in ZAPZEE's October 7 coverage, which credits TikTok among its image sources and reproduces fan posts asking him to keep the haircut after service. Fair enough: the haircut suits him.

The hairstyle has a longer timeline, though. SBS Star covered his photos with a buzz cut on April 20, the day he entered Army recruit training. That was 164 days before the festival opened. So the haircut is not new; October just gave it a second round of attention.

His musical assignment also predates this appearance. On July 9, Outer Universe confirmed to Xports News that Kim had been selected for the Army band. Xports reported an audition in late June and service with the 12th Infantry Division band.

Mina's Take

Woozi is the detail that sticks with me: in September 2025 he watched his group from the audience; in October 2026 he is performing its repertoire with fellow servicemen. That gives this reunion an emotional thread beyond the novelty of familiar faces in uniform. The eight years between “Rhythm Ta” and “Super” add another pleasure: several groups' histories sharing a programme. My bet is that by October 24, at least one participant will publish a new festival dance clip featuring three or more of the photographed stars together. Only a new participant upload counts. If none appears, the bet fails. I think the mixed performances still have another chapter in the participants' own posts.

What to watch next

• New festival dance footage posted by participants through October 24, especially clips naming everyone in the frame.
• An organiser or KFN upload with a complete performance and song credits, giving the short clips their stage context.