SEOUL, July 2 (Korea Bizwire) — The South Korean baseball league surpassed 7 million fans in the fewest number of games in its history Wednesday, while remaining on pace to shatter its single-season attendance record. The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) said the five games played Wednesday drew a combined 76,723 fans, pushing the season total [...]
SEOUL, June 12 (Korea Bizwire) — Throngs of dedicated fans of K-pop giant BTS were busy taking pictures in front of the Hybe building, the entertainment company behind the band, in Seoul, on Monday morning. Many of them were members of ARMY, the band’s passionate fandom, who arrived from all corners of the world to [...]
SEOUL, March 8 (Korea Bizwire) — About half of all K-pop fans bought albums to collect celebrity goods, and not for the music itself, a survey showed Tuesday. The Korea Consumer Agency conducted a survey of 500 consumers said they had used a a paid K-pop fandom service, which showed that they purchased albums (78.9 [...]
AL RAYYAN, Qatar, Nov. 24 (Korea Bizwire) — It’s not just South Korean captain Son Heung-min donning a black mask on the field. Dedicated fans of the Taegeuk Warriors have brought their own masks to Qatar to show support for their skipper at the FIFA World Cup on Thursday. Two 26-year-old friends, Yoon Seok-won and [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 17 (Korea Bizwire) — Ardent fans of K-pop supergroup BTS were shocked Monday by the announcement of the members’ plan to fulfill their mandatory military service, but accepted what was coming and promised to remain their ARMY during the transition period. Known as ARMY (Adorable Representative MC for Youth), BTS’ global fan base [...]
SEOUL, May 2 (Korea Bizwire) — Several unidentified boxes sat in front of the headquarters of Hybe, the entertainment agency behind BTS, on April 21. It later turned out that it was a part of the “K-pop for Planet” event designed to celebrate Earth Day on April 22 as well as to demand that K-pop [...]
SEOUL, April 12 (Korea Bizwire) — The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) clubs are stepping up to attract fans through various marketing strategies as the government lifts quarantine restrictions. NC Dinos will introduce an artificial intelligence (AI) system named Dynamic Pricing this year, which will be in charge of setting ticket prices for home games. Ticket [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 11 (Korea Bizwire) — So-called ‘fandom donations’ in which fans of celebrities or public figures engage in acts of donation continue to expand every year, gaining a foothold as a new tier of donation practices. The Beautiful Foundation, a South Korean charity group, and the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy studied [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 19 (Korea Bizwire) — Namgung Ho-seung hadn’t been to a ball game since May. Back then, all clubs in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) were playing in front of fans, albeit at limited numbers. But once the fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic struck in July, gates at stadiums in the greater Seoul [...]
SEOUL, June 4 (Korea Bizwire) — In a sign of the growing importance of K-pop fans, major agencies and labels here are launching venues dedicated to them at their corporate sites. While companies have temporarily operated pop-up stores and exhibitions for K-pop fans, the recent openings of these permanent venues mark a shift in how [...]