K-pop: Bringing Jeju and the mainland together
상태바
K-pop: Bringing Jeju and the mainland together
이 기사를 공유합니다

Eatyourkimchi.com's Simon and Martina visited the island for a recent K-pop concert. Martina describes their experience

There are those of us that live in South Korea, and then there are those of us that live on Jeju Island. Wait, you might say, aren’t both of those South Korea? Yes and no.

If you live in Seoul or on mainland Korea, Jeju Island feels — if you will excuse my Aladdin reference — like a whole new world. From lush palm trees, bizarrely shaped rocks, Mt. Halla looming from every direction, and bright orange trees, this is totally unlike mainland South Korea.

Simon and I were lucky enough to get a car tour of Jeju, but once we left Jeju City things got weird. Driving through Jeju is like looking through a kid’s toy camera. You see an orange tree grove, but once you flip the side lever the pictures quickly spin to a new image unrelated to the last.

That’s what Jeju is like for me. You enter a quaint fishing town, squid boats are covered in bubbly light bulbs. You drive down a narrow street lined with cherry blossom trees. You’re by the ocean where huge hotels and adorable pensions are scattered around the coastline. Oh look! There’s a looming mountain with the peak cut off, oh wait, the ground has become flat again.

Are those very small horses... on the highway? To those that live in Jeju, I’m sure this blur of beautiful landscape has become normal, and the wonder might have lost its awe, but to someone living on mainland Korea, Jeju is truly a unique and incredible location.

There is, however, one thing that Jeju Island has completely in common with the rest of South Korea, and that is screaming K-pop fans.

On Sunday, April 24, in Jeju City, fangirls and fanboys gathered at Halla Stadium to see a special free Inkigayo K-pop performance. This event was broadcast live by SBS and was created to spur the country into action and to vote for Jeju as a New7Wonders of Nature.

Not that any of the fans cared about that, they were simply hoping to catch a glimpse of their favourite idols. We were lucky enough to get more than a glimpse.

Manned only with the power of “waegukin (foreign)”-ness (and also editor Todd Thacker from The Jeju Weekly) we all managed to squeak through the cracks and get backstage.

Behind the stadium was a surprisingly minimalistic setup of white plastic tents that held droves of K-pop stars. And we’re not talking about just two or three tents, over 15 flapping tents spanned the parking lot.

A ring of security held back screaming yet hopeful camera laden fans while assistants scurried around toting luggage into tents. The shrill cry of the fangirl announced the arrival of yet another idol-filled van or bus.

But many of the idols were travel-exhausted, really, and so some of them just shuffled into their tent quickly. Others excitedly greeted friends from other bands. Some acted aloof and hung out only with their bandmates, while others played a small game of soccer with some backup dancers.

We were lucky enough to chat with Kevin, Eli, and AJ from U-Kiss who are all fluent English speakers and incredibly friendly. Kevin mentioned that he really wanted to try Jeju’s special samgyeopsal (grilled pork) but won’t be given the chance since they had to fly out immediately after the show and prepare for another.

Regardless if you’re a K-pop fan or not, you can’t deny how hard these people work. Without getting any real breaks during the day, bouncing between TV shows, music concerts, and radio interviews, plus smiling for their fans regardless of how much sleep they didn’t get, these K-pop idols work endlessly.

Nonetheless, each band performed with passion and energy as the screams and cheers from the stadium attested. I can always rely on the power of K-pop blasting out of every cell phone store to firmly remind me that I do indeed live in South Korea, and it seems that despite Jeju’s distinction from the rest of Korea, it is not able to escape that as well. <Jeju Weekly>

<Martina Sazunic-Stawski contact@eatyourkimchi.com Jeju Weekly All rights reserved>
 


댓글삭제
삭제한 댓글은 다시 복구할 수 없습니다.
그래도 삭제하시겠습니까?
딥페이크등(영상‧음향‧이미지)을 이용한 선거운동 및 후보자 등에 대한 허위사실공표‧비방은 공직선거법에 위반되므로 유의하시기 바랍니다.(삭제 또는 고발될 수 있음)
댓글수정
댓글 0
0 / 400
댓글쓰기
계정을 선택하시면 로그인·계정인증을 통해
댓글을 남기실 수 있습니다.