As the clock resets on New Year’s Day, many K-pop listeners follow a small but familiar ritual: choosing the first song they will play in the New Year. It is a habit rooted in the idea that music can help shape the emotional tone of what comes next. Every year, K-pop fans usually treat their opening track as a kind of soft launch for the year ahead. Some reach for comfort, others for confidence or motivation, but the impulse is the same: Start the year on the right note. Over time, this has turned certain K-pop tracks into annual fixtures. While most of these were not written to become New Year’s anthems, they do share something more lasting — themes of renewal, self-belief and forward motion. With 2026 arriving at a moment that feels both uncertain and full of possibility, that first choice matters more than usual. Below are some of the songs fans return to as they step into a new year, spanning different eras, genres and moods. 'As You Wish,' WJSN Released in 2019, WJSN’s “As You Wish” has become a familiar presence on New Year’s Day playlists among K-pop fans. Built on a