Korean entertainment, K-pop scenes come to halt as nation mourns Itaewon tragedy

The Korean entertainment industry and K-pop scene came to a halt following Saturday’s crowd crush in central Seoul’s Itaewon, after the tragedy left over 150 dead and over a hundred more injured. As the government announced a national mourning ...

Visitors mourn the victims of Satuday's crowd crush in central Seoul's Itaewon at a memorial space in front of Itaewon Station exit 1 on Sunday. [YONHAP]

The Korean entertainment industry and K-pop scene came to a halt following Saturday’s crowd crush in central Seoul’s Itaewon, after the tragedy left over 150 dead and over a hundred more injured.

As the government announced a national mourning period for a week until Saturday, entertainment firms have announced they will cancel or indefinitely postpone events and releases scheduled for this week.

The Korea Music Content Association announced Sunday that it will be postponing its MWM (Moving the World with Music) Festival, which was set to take place in Busan on Thursday and Friday. Events scheduled for the day before, Sunday, were also canceled, such as SM Entertainment’s Halloween party “SMTown Wonderland 2022,” electronic dance music festival “Strike Music Festival” and concerts “Busan One Asia Festival K-pop Concert” and “Peakbox 22-03.”

Trot singers Jang Yoon-jeong and Youngtak canceled their concerts on Sunday following the news of the accident. Singer Kim Jae-joong also canceled his solo concert in Nagoya, Japan.

K-pop acts Ateez and Dreamcatcher were unable to reschedule and each held their concerts on Sunday as planned, but the group members and audience had a moment of silence for the victims prior to starting the performance.

Multiple K-pop groups set to release new music this week have announced they will postpone their releases. Press conferences, interviews and showcases for the scheduled releases have also been canceled.

Chen of Exo and Yong Jun-hyung, set to release solo EPs on Monday, announced postponements on Sunday. More K-pop artists followed with the similar announcements: groups Drippin, Nature, Craxy, Irris, Trendz, IChillin’ and singer Jeong Eun-ji.

Korean television has also come to a stop during the period of mourning. Mnet’s entertainment shows “Street Man Fighter,” “M Countdown,” “Show Me The Money,” “Street Man Fighter Commentary” and “Artistock Game” will all skip this week’s episode. SBS will also skip this week of its music and entertainment shows such as “Inkigayo,” “Sing for Gold” and “Running Man.” Other television channels such as MBC, tvN and JTBC will skip most of this week’s entertainment shows.

Broadcasting schedules are likely to remain tentative until the end of the national mourning period.

Monday’s press conference for the comedy film “Men of Plastic” starring Ma Dong-seok, also known as Don Lee, was canceled.

KBS’s new drama series “Curtain Call” starring actors Kang Ha-neul and Ha Ji-won canceled Monday’s press conference but will air its first episode the same day as planned.

Also on Monday, singer and president of the Korea Singers Association Lee Ja-yeon offered her condolences and said the association will do its best to remain respectful during the morning period.

“Considering the severity of the national mourning period, we as an association will halt all events and television broadcasts and will do our best to console the victims’ families,” Lee said.

BY HALEY YANG [yang.hyunjoo@joongang.co.kr]