Asia News: Fire Cuts Short Sapporo Concert; BTS Plans Free Concert In Busan

JAPAN

Fire Cuts Short Sapporo Concert

Idol boy band King & Prince was forced to cut short its set when a small fire broke out at a concert in the northern Japanese city of Sapporo on Aug. 6.

One person in the audience was sent to the hospital after they “felt unwell,” according to Kyodo news agency, and as a result all 8,000 fans in the Hokkaido Prefectural Sports Center were evacuated from the venue. The rest of the concert was canceled.

Fire officials said the source of the fire was oil that had leaked from the smoke-producing equipment which provides special effects for the concert. The oil had come into contact with lights and ignited.

KOREA

BTS Plans Free Show In Busan

South Korean media is reporting that the world’s biggest K-pop band, BTS, will hold a free concert in mid-October in the southern city of Busan to boost the city’s chances of hosting the 2030 World Expo.

Though the venue has not been announced, about 100,000 people are expected to attend in person and BTS’s management company, Hybe, says it will also simulcast the concert worldwide, presumably for free as well.

If the plan goes ahead in this way, it will be the largest concert ever held in Busan, the second biggest city in South Korea. Earlier this summer, BTS was selected as Busan’s Honorary Ambassadors for its World Expo bid and the group decided to hold a concert later in the year to help sell that bid to the world at large.