Underground Idol Appears in Yongsan, Will A New Performance Culture Be Open

Aug 20, 2024

On August 17, the 4th floor of Yongsan I'Park Mall 'The Garden' Plaza attracted a large crowd. This is to see "underground idols" active in Korea. Underground idol is a Japanese idol performance culture that communicates directly with audiences and fans in the field, not in broadcasting and media, and public interest is heating up as it was imported in Korea starting with its first performance in 2017 and currently holds about 40 to 50 performances per month in Mapo-gu alone.

Underground idols in Korea, which are creating a new wind in indie live culture, which has consisted of existing bands, hip-hop, and acoustic genres, are striving to promote new performance culture to the public by participating in Sinchon Star Plaza Busking Live, which was held at Hyundai Outlet's Dongdaemun branch on June 28. In addition, underground idols are officially invited to large-scale subculture events in Korea, such as 'Seoul Comic World' and 'Illustar Pes', and the scale is increasing day by day.

The live held at Yongsan I'Park Mall The Garden Square is "LIVE IDOL GARDEN", the fifth event of "The Garden Concert", which has been regularly planned and hosted at Yongsan I'Park Mall. On this day, a total of six underground idol groups, including Rose Trap, Shokuma, Cerescu, Yonohoshi, and Aitai, appeared in the cast, along with 'Sekakomo', which has already been distinguished by several outdoor and large live performances.

The event was organized and hosted by Artifact Entertainment Co., Ltd., a domestic subculture agency, and Blue Firmkin, a comprehensive income purchasing agency, and Shin Hyun-joon, CEO of Artifact Entertainment Co., Ltd., said, `We hope that various and fresh plans will lower the barriers to public entry into underground idols in the future and be recognized as a new branch of domestic performance culture.," he said.

sisyphe@sportschosun.com