Government causes jamboree mess and has K-pop stars clean up after them?

NewJeans sings at the 2023 Lollapalooza Chicago, a music festival held in Grant Park, Chicago on August 3. AP Yonhap News

The government’s perspective on popular music remains in the past. Their attempt to hastily book K-pop stars to cover up problems in a state-organized event reminds us of an outdated attitude that regards culture as something subordinate to politics.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced on August 8 that due to the approach of a typhoon, the Jamboree K-pop Concert, which was scheduled to be held at the Saemangeum Jamboree site in Buan, Jeollabuk-do, would be held in the Sangam World Cup Stadium in Seoul for two hours from 7 p.m. August 11. The culture ministry said it would announce the details of the program, including the performing artists, and how it would proceed with the concert at a future time.

It seems likely for the girl group NewJeans to perform. NewJeans was not in the original list of artists scheduled to appear in the jamboree concert. The government appears to have quickly booked the girl group after scheduled artists were unable to appear due to changes in the time and venue of the event.

Due to the new time and location of the concert, the government is busy trying to book artists in addition to NewJeans. The KBS music show, Music Bank, which was to be aired on the same day as the concert, was canceled. KBS is the network that organized the jamboree K-pop concert, and it announced on August 7 that the Music Bank show scheduled to air on August 11 would be canceled. The broadcasting station did not mention the reason for the cancellation, but it is speculated that they canceled the show because it would be hard to secure artists for the jamboree concert, if the show, which features a long list of popular K-pop artists, was recorded and aired at the same time as the concert.

When the organizers first made changes and decided to hold the jamboree K-pop concert in Jeonju on August 11, it almost interrupted the Jeonju Ultimate Music Festival (JUMF), scheduled on the same date. On Monday, Lee Tae-dong, a producer at MBC Jeonju who serves as the executive director of JUMF, wrote on his social media account, “I got a call from the broadcasting network organizing the event. They said they were trying to have the headliner of Friday’s festival stage appear in the K-pop concert for the closing of the jamboree, held an hour earlier in Jeonju on the same day, and asked for our understanding.” It appears they tried to book artists scheduled to appear in a nearby stage when the scheduled artists could not appear due to changes in the schedule.

People Power Party lawmaker Sung Il-jong even mentioned BTS, despite that some members are currently serving in the military. On August 8, Sung wrote on social media, “I ask the defense ministry to take every action possible to enhance the prestige of the Republic of Korea by having BTS, currently serving in the military, take part in the K-pop concert in Seoul on August 11.” When asked about a performance by BTS in a briefing on August 6, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Park Bo-gyoon answered that nothing was decided yet. With just five days remaining until the concert, the culture minister gave a vague answer and pressed for the global K-pop group’s performance.

Jin and J-Hope of BTS are currently serving in the military. V is busy preparing for his first solo album, which will be released next month. The government is practically asking the members of the group, busy engaging in individual activities, to go up on stage without any preparations.

BTS had a similar experience last October when they held the BTS Yet to Come in Busan concert to support Busan’s bid to host the 2030 World Expo. The concert was free, but HYBE ended up shouldering the costs, not the Bid Committee. It was before Jin began his military service, so the incident stirred controversy and the government was accused of taking advantage of Jin’s military service to force HYBE to cover the expenses.

Artists spend a tremendous amount of time and effort to perform on stage. As the global popularity of K-pop stars soars, the public has higher expectations for their performances. Fans analyze every single movement and detail of the artists on stage. Artists pay attention to every minute detail, adjusting the lighting, movements, and sound according to the location, time and nature of the stage. A performance in Music Bank, which is recorded at the Open Hall in the KBS New Wing, and a stage in the Sangam World Cup Stadium are completely different. Demanding artists in the military to perform on stage in just 3-4 days is also grounded on the outdated way of thinking, which regards the performance of K-pop stars as something like a talent show.

Music critic Kim Zakka said over the phone Tuesday, “It makes me so angry. Aren’t they telling K-pop idols to solve the problem caused by the government’s incompetence?” He said, “South Korean bureaucrats still have the obsolete idea that culture is subordinate to politics.”