Asia News: Live Nation Partners With JYP; Hakchon To Close; Coldplay Protest

KOREA

Live Nation Partners With JYP To Produce Tours

Korea’s JYP Entertainment announced Nov. 14 it has entered into a “global strategic partnership” with Live Nation to “cooperate on producing tours for its K-pop acts.” Live Nation will help JYP produce concerts overseas for groups like Twice, Stray Kida, Itzy, and Xdinary Heroes.

Live Nation has already worked with JYP on North American tours for the girl group Twice and the boy band Stray Kids.

In fact, Twice became the first K-pop girl group to “headline at both NFL and MLB stadiums this year” and also sold out SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, and MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

Hakchon Theater To Close

Seoul’s storied Hakchon Theater announced it will close for good sometime next year due to financial troubles.

The venue, which is located in Seoul’s busy Daehangno theater district, was opened in 1991 by Kim Min-ki, who is also the venue’s CEO. Kim was a singer-songwriter who composed some of Korea’s most beloved pop songs.

Yonhap news reports that one of the reasons for Hakchon’s closure is that Kim is suffering from stomach cancer.

Over the years, the theater has hosted a wide variety of performances, including concerts by big-name artists, musical theater performances, and straight plays. It was also the launching pad for dozens of new singers and groups who went on to successful careers.

INDONESIA

Muslims March Against Coldplay

About 100 conservative Muslims marched in the streets of Jakarta to the British Embassy demanding that the Nov. 15 concert by Coldplay at the Indonesian capital’s Gelora Bung Karno stadium be canceled.

The group objects to the British band’s support for the LGBTQ+ community.

The concert was sold out since the 70,000 tickets went on sale in May, and went on as planned, but local Islamic leaders claimed the group’s vocal support for LGBTQ+ rights “threatens to undermine Indonesia’s moral fiber and corrupt its youth.”

The protesters were organized by the 212 Brotherhood Alumni, who chanted “We reject Coldplay” as they proceeded to the British Embassy. A protest leader blamed the government for allowing the band to perform in Indonesia. He also referred to Coldplay’s lead singer, Chris Martin, as an “atheist.”

Indonesia is nominally a secular country, but in recent years extremist groups have become more aggressive in promoting their conservative agenda, causing Lady Gaga to cancel a concert in 2012 over “security concerns.”