K-pop on coronavirus lock down: Super Junior axe album launch concert, while boy groups SF9 and NCT Dream pull China and Macau tour dates
Actor Kim Soo-hyun also called off a fan meeting in Seoul, targeted at Chinese tourists, as the Korean entertainment industry sounds red alert amid the deadly virus outbreak
The South Korean entertainment and broadcasting industries have been on full alert amid continued concerns over the Chinese coronavirus outbreak which has killed at least 170 people and spread to many other countries and regions.
An increasing number of entertainment agencies have decided to defer live concerts at which hundreds of fans would come into contact with each other – and potentially run the risk of being infected with the virus that originated in the central Chinese city of Wuhan.
K-pop boy group Super Junior cancelled two concerts scheduled for February 4 to mark the release of its ninth full-length repackaged album. Originally, 400 fans had been invited to the concerts, dubbed “Super Junior The Stage”, to be held in Goyang, near Seoul.
Label SJ, the band's management agency, decided on January 27 not to open the planned concerts to the public “due to the situation involving worries about virus infection”.
South Korean star actor Kim Soo-hyun, who is popular in China, called off a fan meeting in Seoul on February 9 that around 1,000 fans were expected to attend. The fan meeting was also designed to encourage Chinese fans to stay at a Seoul hotel.
Fears about the virus have also forced South Korean singer Kang Sung-hoon to postpone fan meetings scheduled for February 14 and 15, and Top Media, the management agency for singer Kim Woo-seok, has postponed the start of ticket sales for a similar meet and greet on February 22.
Entertainment agencies have been cancelling events in China involving South Korean singers in response to requests from fans increasingly worried about their safety amid the virus rapidly spreading in the neighbouring country.