I don't know why you are replying with this like some kind of gotcha...

First of all Java and the JVM are two different things. One is a language and one is a runtime.

Yes Kotlin requires the JVM. So does Scala and a lot of other languages. Leveraging the JVM runtime means that Kotlin can inter-op with Java libraries and the ecosystem at large without having to build all those things anew. Its all upside. You get the niceties of the language plus the rich ecosystem. I can for instance leverage Apache POI in Kotlin to generate some excel workbooks despite the fact that that library is old af and doesn't know anything about Kotlin. I have in fact. It works great.

Your argument doesn't have legs to stand on. Languages like Elixir leverage existing runtimes as well. Its not uncommon and its a feature not a bug.