Which component in Kubernetes is responsible for load balancing and routing incoming requests?

In Kubernetes, the object responsible for load balancing and routing incoming requests is the Service, particularly types like LoadBalancer and NodePort. They ensure traffic distribution to pods.

Additionally, for more complex routing, Ingress is often used — a resource that manages external access to services in the cluster, usually via HTTP/HTTPS, and allows configuring routing rules, SSL, and load balancing.