SEOUL– The stricter COVID-19 curbs set to go into effect this weekend will likely disrupt large-scale K-pop concerts scheduled for the end-of-the-year holiday season.
Rolling back its “live with COVID-19” scheme, the government will reimpose stricter distancing rules starting Saturday to limit private gatherings and restrict business hours of restaurants, cafes, movie theaters and live concert halls.
According to music industry sources, the culture ministry has notified K-pop and concert agencies that the size of large-scale concerts required to get prior approval from the authorities will be lowered to 300 from 500 in terms of audience number, under the new virus curbs.
The attendance cap at those events will also be lowered to 4,000 spectators from the current 5,000, starting Monday, the sources said.
The new measures will likely force organizers of large-scale concerts scheduled for next week to scale down or reschedule the events.
Legendary trot singer Na Hoon-a and TWICE, one of the most popular K-pop girl groups, were scheduled to hold three concerts to be attended by 5,000 fans on Dec. 24-26 respectively in Daegu, some 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul, and the capital city.
On Thursday, however, TWICE canceled the first-day concert as all live concert halls are required to close at 10 p.m. under the new coronavirus curbs set to go into effect Saturday.
The group’s management agency explained that it has decided to cancel the show because it was to begin at 7:30 p.m. and might have lasted well over the curfew. Two other concerts are set to start hours earlier than that one, it added.
Hybe, home to famous K-pop groups such as BTS, Seventeen, Tomorrow X Together (TXT) and Enhypen, is also reportedly considering rescheduling “2022 Weverse Con (New Era),” a joint concert of its artists, due to the stricter distancing rules.
The show was set to take place on Dec. 31 at the Korea International Exhibition Center (KINTEX) in Goyang, just northwest of Seoul. Global K-pop group BTS will not participate in the show.
Source: Yonhap News Agency