SMAP Mishap

One week after a free concert featuring top K-pop artists caused near-rioting and one reported death at the World Expo in Shanghai, the expo’s Coordination Committee canceled a similar event scheduled for June 13.

The veteran Japanese boy band SMAP was going to give its first-ever overseas concert as a group at the Expo Cultural Center on that day, but the committee announced on its website June 5 that the concert was canceled because of “security considerations” and the large number of fans who were expected to show up.

On May 30, there was a stampede when thousands of Chinese fans were unable to secure tickets to a concert by BoA and Super Junior.

Several media reported earlier that the committee was working on a different ticketing method for the SMAP concert to avoid the same problems, including a lottery.

However, with the concert only a week away it was apparently deemed that there wasn’t enough time.