K-Entertainment halts as nation grieves Halloween disaster
Lost property whose owner's life or death is unknown
The Korean entertainment
industry and K-pop came to a halt after the tragedy left over 156 dead and over
a hundred more injured.
Actor ‘Lee Ji-han’ was among the 156 victims who died during the Itaewon disaster on Saturday night. He was 24 years old.
Most recently, Lee had
been cast in the new MBC drama series “Season of Kkok-du”.
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 that
it will be postponing its MWM (Moving the World with Music) Festival.
Events 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.
K-pop acts ‘Ateez’ and ‘Dreamcatcher’ were
unable to reschedule, 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. TV channels will also skip most of this week’s
entertainment shows.
Broadcasting schedules are likely to remain tentative until the end of the
national mourning period.
Press conference for the movie also was
canceled.
KBS’s new drama series “Curtain Call” canceled press
conference but will air its first episode the same day as planned.