South Korean government announces plans to build an official 15,000+ seat ‘K-Pop performance venue’

The ‘Saitama Super Arena‘ located near Tokyo is a large-scale venue that top Hallyu stars such as Girls’ Generation and TVXQ frequently visit when it comes time for them to hold a performance in Japan. The venue allows for 37,000 fans to see the show at one time, and a lot of famous international artists also utilize this venue for their performances.

In order to maintain the Hallyu craze and to bring in more tourists from overseas, the Korean government has decided to build this kind of arena specifically for K-Pop performances, in Korea. The Ministry of Strategy and Finance revealed this plan through the New Growth Engine Performance Evaluation Report Conference presided by South Korean president Lee Myung Bak on September 5th.

Ministry of Finance Vice-Minister Shin Jae Yoon who was present at the conference this day reported, “We have plans to build a new K-Pop performance venue in the metropolitan area that seats more than 15,000.”

As of now, the top artists’ first venue of choice when it comes to national performances is none other than the Olympic Gymnastics Stadium located in Seoul. The arena holds a little over 15,000, which means the new K-Pop venue the government is looking to build will be the largest performance arena in the country.

There are a few locations where this venue could possibly be built, including Ilsan, Gyeonggi-do, the Magok district of Gangseo-gu, and Chang-dong, Dobong-gu in Seoul. A high-rank representative from the Ministry of Finance explained, “All three locations have their own appeals, therefore we will strive to begin construction next year, after reviewing a number of different conditions.” The venue is expected to be completed in the year 2016.

Hearing the news, the entertainment industry is rejoicing with gratitude. Yedang Entertainment‘s Publicity & Marketing Chief Park Yeon Ki remarked, “There aren’t any professional venues in Korea in which we can accomodate a large-scale audience. If a new venue consisting of great acoustics and a stage for performance were to be built in the metropolitan area, it would be a great help to the recording industry as well as give a boost to the Hallyu craze.”

On the flip side, there are still some concerns. A representative from an agency that requested to remain anonymous brought up another point saying, “A few years ago, they were saying that a large-scale Hallyu theme park was going to be built in Gyeonggi-do. We need to remember this example, because in the end, there were some complications regarding the construction expenses and the plans came to a halt. In order to continue the Hallyu craze, these promises need to be thoroughly kept without any problems.”

Source: Asia KJ via Nate

Image: Big Bang’s Official Facebook

Wonder Girls & Big Bang top Grammy’s ‘Trending Photos’ list

The Wonder Girls and Big Bang may not be currently promoting together, but the idol duo (affectionately dubbed ‘WonderBang’) has found itself topping the ‘Trending Photos” section of Grammy.com!

Grammy.com, which featured the quintets in March & June, hosts galleries for various artists in its photos section. The Trending Photos list reveals the galleries that are most viewed, shared and discussed by visitors of the site.

It’s interesting to see two of K-pop’s biggest artists on Grammy.com. Who else would you want to see featured on this website?

Hallyu Wave expected to cool down in the next four years, KoreaTimes reports

In contrast to the multitude of Korean and international articles praising the Hallyu wave’s rapid international spread and predicting its future growth, a new KoreaTimes article suggests that the viral nature of this success may not last as long as some expect.

“Six out of 10 foreigners believe the recent fad for Korean culture ― K-pop, movies and TV dramas and soap operas ― will decline over the next few years,” the report reveals. A survey by Korea’s Ministry of Culture Sports and Tourism and the Korea Foundation for International Culture Exchange (KOFICE) revealed that 60% of 3,600 people in nine countries doubt that the Hallyu wave will see lasting international success.

“The main reason foreigners doubted hallyu’s continued success is because they are ‘tired of standardized content,’” the article explained, attesting that 20.5% of respondents voted for this reason.

“Hypersexual dancing, lyrics and clothing are common among K-pop “idols,” and teen singers,” the report points out. “Korean drama series repeatedly revisit topics such as adulterous affairs, revenge and secrets surrounding the birth or identity of characters, making it difficult to move increasingly desensitized audiences.”

Experts believe that Korea must ‘sell its unique story’ in order to win over other countries by integrating those nation’s traditions into Korean pop culture.

As one representative from the culture ministry said, “Content that isn’t original and diverse will not survive in the market. It is essential to diversify the stories in the media … We also need to encourage financial investment in media, because you can’t create a masterpiece with just a great story and an idea.”

The report can be read in its entirety at KoreaTimes here.

This skepticism of the Hallyu wave comes as a shock to many Korean and international K-pop fans, many of whom are currently “drunk on the international Korean culture craze”. What are your predictions for the future of the Hallyu wave? We’d like to hear your reasoning in the comments section below!

Source: KoreaTimes

Super Junior, “We still have a long way to go to match TVXQ’s popularity”

 

Hallyu superstars Super Junior recently gained attention as they commented on their increasing popularity in the Japanese market.

On May 13th, Super Junior held a press conference to mark the ‘Super Show 4‘ concert at the prestigious Tokyo Dome. During the conference, leader Lee Teuk shared his thoughts on Super Junior’s popularity by commenting, “I think we benefited greatly from the Hallyu Wave“.

When asked about the comparisons to label mates and fellow Hallyu superstars TVXQ, Lee Teuk replied, “Many people compare our popularity to TVXQ’s, but we really have a long way to go. TVXQ’s fandom is beyond imagination. TVXQ’s popularity is the result of hard work that began at performances in front of only 500 people.”

He continued by explaining, “In comparison, we never had any real promotions or activities in Japan but we received a lot of love as a result of the K-pop boom. We are considering creating a unit in Japan in order to repay the love that we received.”

In related news, Super Junior held their ‘Super Show 4′ performance across two nights at the Tokyo Dome. The concert was a resounding success, as each performance played to a crowd of over 55,000 and grossed over $14 million dollars in revenue.

The next leg of the ‘Super Show 4′ tour is scheduled to be held in Seoul on May 26 and 27th.

 

Source & Image: Naver