Agency of trot singer Lee Chan-won assures fall festival confrontation was no big issue

Trot singer Lee Chan-won's agency said there were no major problems associated with the confrontation at a fall festival event held in Hwasun-gun, South Jeolla, on Sunday.

Trot singer Lee Chan-won [NEWS1]

Trot singer Lee Chan-won's agency said there were no major problems associated with the confrontation at a fall festival event held in Hwasun-gun, South Jeolla, on Sunday.

Audience members complained as Lee, who was scheduled to perform at the event, announced he would not perform following the Itaewon crush tragedy from the night before. The audience started booing the singer as the singer made the announcement.

A man from the audience was also reported to have been hurling insults at the singer. The man approached Lee and physically grabbed Lee's manager who was protecting the singer.

"We coordinated with the event organizer to not perform prior to the event," said Lee's agency, Chorokbaem E&M.

"There were complaints from the audience and small appeals were made, but there wasn't any big issue."

The agency previously announced through Lee's fan page on Saturday night that the singer would be attending the event but would not be performing as the national mourning period was declared.

Lee rose to stardom after making it to the top seven of TV Chosun’s hit audition show “Mr. Trot” (2020), which revived the music genre in Korea. Trot is extremely popular domestically, particularly among middle-aged and older Koreans.

BY CHO JUNG-WOO [cho.jungwoo1@joongang.co.kr]