So Ji Sub Tops August Rising Star Brand Reputation Rankings as RESCENE Surges

Actor So Ji Sub has taken first place in the August rising-star brand reputation rankings, leading a list that also highlights a major jump for K-pop group RESCENE. The monthly results place actors, singers, idol groups, and television personalities in the same broad measure of public visibility, offering a snapshot of which names generated the strongest attention over the survey period.

The ranking was calculated from big-data collected between June 30 and July 30. Its score combines indicators tied to media coverage, consumer participation, interaction, and community awareness. It is not a measure of sales or a public vote alone; instead, it brings several kinds of online and media activity into one index. That distinction matters when reading a table that puts people from very different parts of entertainment side by side.

So Ji Sub takes the top spot

So Ji Sub finished No. 1 with a brand reputation index of 8,082,171. The result places the veteran actor ahead of a field spanning newer acts and established entertainers. His first-place showing also underscores how a performer’s current projects and broader public recognition can converge in a ranking that measures attention across multiple channels.

The top five paired familiar acting names with fast-rising music acts. RESCENE followed in second with 7,859,736, while actor Yoon Kyung Ho ranked third at 3,953,877. Park Ji Hoon was fourth with 2,999,994, and CORTIS completed the top five with 2,905,823. The spread in scores shows a clear leader, but it also shows how closely the next set of names can be grouped when public interest is moving quickly.

RESCENE posts a striking rise

RESCENE’s second-place result was especially notable because its score rose 84.52 percent from the previous month. That increase separated the group from the rest of the top tier and points to a period of accelerated attention. For a newer K-pop act, momentum can build quickly when releases, performances, social engagement, and fan activity reinforce one another.

Brand-reputation indices cannot explain every reason behind a surge, and they should not be treated as a forecast. Still, the scale of RESCENE’s gain makes the group’s August showing one of the month’s clearest developments. The result offers a useful marker of visibility at a particular moment, while future lists will show whether that attention becomes a longer-term pattern.

The broader top 10 reflected the variety of Korea’s entertainment landscape. Joo Woo Jae, WOODZ, Kim Yong Bin, Park Ji Hyeon, and Stray Kids’ Seongri were among the names immediately following the leading five. Their presence illustrates how the ranking brings together individual musicians, actors, variety figures, and members of major idol groups rather than limiting the list to a single industry lane.

A mixed field of actors and idols

Further down the August table, names from across K-pop and Korean screen entertainment continued to appear. The top 30 included ENHYPEN, KiiiKiii, I.O.I, EXO’s Doh Kyung Soo, 2PM’s Lee Junho, Rowoon, Byeon Woo Seok, Park Seo Joon, Kim Go Eun, and Lee Jun Young. Such a wide range makes the monthly index useful less as a definitive popularity contest than as a record of which performers were most visible during a specific window.

For readers following newer acts, the August results create two clear storylines: So Ji Sub’s commanding lead and RESCENE’s rapid upward movement. The list also leaves room for future changes, since each month’s scores are shaped by a fresh collection period and the constantly shifting cycle of music releases, dramas, broadcasts, and public appearances.

Brand-reputation figures can fluctuate significantly from month to month, but August’s table shows how established star power and emerging-group momentum can share the spotlight in the same measure.