"K-POP Energy" vs "Bangyeok Gumeong" Concert with 4,000 Attendees, What Do You Think?

Stadium-Concert Hall, Experiment in Returning to Normal Life
Up to 4,000 Audience Members Allowed at Popular Music Venues
Concerns Over COVID-19 Resurgence Raised
Experts Advise "Adjust Number of People According to Space"

2019 Incheon Pentaport Rock Festival site. The photo is unrelated to specific expressions in the article. Photo by Asia Economy DB.

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyun-joo] "It's dizzying to think that as many as 4,000 people will gather."

Lee (23, university student), a fan of an 8-year-old girl group, expressed mixed feelings. This is because the social distancing adjustment plan allowing up to 4,000 spectators at popular music venues will be applied from the 14th. Lee said, "I really want to see my favorite singer, but the fact that the capacity is large makes me worried about COVID-19 infection."

The popular music performance industry is filled with expectations that this adjustment plan will revitalize the stagnant performance industry. On the 11th, the Korea Popular Music Performance Industry Association issued a statement saying, "We expect the government's decision to help activate popular music performances."

Until now, classical and musical performances did not limit the number of spectators as long as basic quarantine rules were followed. On the other hand, the popular music performance industry was limited to fewer than 100 spectators, and no clear guidelines were established, forcing repeated postponements and cancellations, resulting in losses. There have also been criticisms that this is unfair compared to other genres. According to the Korea Music Label Industry Association, the estimated damage to domestic popular music performances from February last year to May this year amounts to about 184 billion KRW.

The first to open the door to offline performances were large concerts and outdoor festivals. Showplay, a performance planning company, announced on the 14th that the 'Miss Trot 2' concert in Seoul, which was indefinitely postponed due to COVID-19, will resume from the 23rd to the 25th of next month at Olympic Hall. Mint Paper, another performance planning company, also announced that 'Beautiful Mint Life 2021' will be held for two days on the 26th and 27th at the 88 Lawn Square in Seoul Olympic Park.

K-POP fans are also welcoming the news for now. Lee said, "I like concerts, but I was frustrated because I couldn't enjoy them for a long time," adding, "Online concerts that emerged due to COVID-19 lack the vividness and presence unique to offline concerts, which is disappointing." Lee expressed a desire to participate in offline events as long as on-site quarantine rules are properly followed.

Moon (31, public servant) also said, "I booked tickets for singer Na Hoon-a's concert for my parents last December, but the concert was canceled due to the worsening COVID-19 situation," expressing hope that "once my parents complete their second vaccine dose, it might be okay to send them to concerts."

Performance organizers are making thorough preparations to catch both the quarantine and box office success. Mint Paper, the organizer of 'Beautiful Mint Life 2021,' plans to introduce rapid antigen test kits on-site and operate a social distancing seating system at about 40% of the usual capacity. For the 'Miss Trot 2' concert, which is expected to attract a large number of middle-aged and elderly audiences vulnerable to infection, thorough quarantine measures will be implemented according to the health authorities' recommendations, including seat distancing, banning shouting, and continuous disinfection.

Successful cases are also accumulating overseas. The UK's largest music awards, the 'Brit Awards,' held an offline performance in front of 4,000 spectators last month without masks or social distancing. This experimental attempt was made possible as local vaccination accelerated.

Meanwhile, in the U.S., the rock group Teenage Bottlerocket applied a 'vaccine incentive' for their offline concert next month. Vaccinated attendees pay $18 (about 20,000 KRW), while unvaccinated attendees pay $1,000 (about 1.11 million KRW) for admission.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

However, concerns about COVID-19 quarantine remain strong in some quarters. Although health authorities require compliance with basic quarantine rules such as banning gatherings of five or more people and prohibiting food consumption, and prohibit actions that may produce droplets such as shouting and chanting, there are continuous criticisms that the gathering of large numbers itself is problematic. Sporadic cluster infections are occurring mainly in crowded places such as workplaces, schools, shopping malls, and churches.

Recently, 16 confirmed cases occurred at a financial institution in Daejeon, and 38 cases at a high school in Gangbuk-gu, Seoul. Especially, many 'dark transmissions' with unknown infection routes require extra caution. From the 1st to this day, among 7,935 newly reported confirmed cases, 2,160 (27.2%) have not yet had their infection routes identified.

Choi (25, prospective graduate student), who used to enjoy outdoor rock festivals before COVID-19, said, "The main audience of outdoor festivals is people in their 20s and 30s, but people in their 20s have not even started vaccination yet," adding, "It seems like a premature decision in a situation where herd immunity has not been formed." Park (25, office worker) also expressed concern, saying, "Isn't it too many people gathering in one place?"

Experts advise adjusting the number of people according to the space. They argue that for effective infection prevention, the number of people should be limited based on population density relative to the space.

Professor Eom Jung-sik, an infectious disease specialist at Gachon University Gil Medical Center, emphasized, "It is necessary to readjust the number of people relative to the space," adding, "Because the infection prevention rate can vary depending on several conditions such as the size of the space, seat distance, and whether it is indoors or outdoors."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.