Korea Herald has reported that KCON Saudi Arabia has been cancelled “due to internal conflicts”. However, South Korean entertainment company CJ ENM which produces the festival “maintains that Saudi Arabia KCON is still in the works”.
Despite the challenges in Saudi Arabia, the forthcoming US and Germany events are still set to go ahead. KCON USA in Los Angeles is scheduled to take place from July 26 to 28, before the event goes to Hamburg on September 28 and 29. The events in Hong Kong and Japan have already happened on March 30 to 31 and May 10 to 12, respectively.
No dates or specific location have been released for the Saudi Arabian edition. The event took place last year but featured what was considered to be a lacklustre lineup of artists.
“The K-pop artists last year lacked significant name recognition,” an anonymous concert promoter told Korea Herald.
“K-pop agencies don’t seem very interested in the Middle Eastern market, so they don’t send their top bands. Consequently, ticket sales were low.
“The Saudi Tourism Authority is aware of these issues and is reconsidering the event.
“For a K-pop concert to sell tickets in the Middle East, you need to bring in established bands like BTS, Stray Kids, Seventeen, Ateez or Enhypen. However, the biggest name on the 2023 KCON Saudi Arabia lineup was Super Junior, who were more popular four years ago.”
The American KCON event has also had its problems, with girl group izna having to withdraw from playing due to “unexpected” visa issues.