Kep1er, the long-awaited concert of K-Pop Group fans in Fuzhou, China, originally scheduled for September 13 at the Fujian meeting room, was postponed indefinitely due to “inevitable local circumstances”, the group’s agency announced on August 27.
No replacement date has been set, leaving the fans and observers of the uncertain sector on when the performance could be reprogrammed.
The Fuzhou event was intended as a point of reference I waitBy combining fans’ interactions with a setlist of 15 songs and it is expected that around 1,500 participants sat in the headquarters. He represented one of the first large-scale K-pop events on Chinese mainland since an informal ban on Korean entertainment entered into force after the deployment of the defense system of the high altitude area (Thaad) of the United States in South Korea in 2016.
That action of 2016 prompted Beijing to impose restrictions widespread for Korean music, television dramas and films, often indicated as restrictions on “Korean wave”. While the ban has never been codified in law, the Chinese authorities have maintained close checks, rarely granting the approval for the vast scale by Korean acts.
Instead, smaller fans meetings without being full of live shows Occasionally they have been admitted in rigorous conditions, as seen with Shinee’s Taemin, Kang Daniel and the mamamoo’s solar at the beginning of this year.
The experts in the sector had seen Kep1er’s data Fuzhou as a test case for a wider relaxation of these measures. The group agency had described the event as part of a new wave of meetings focused on fans, in which artists could interact directly with local supporters without violating formal restrictions.
Despite those hopes, the postponement comes only two weeks before the scheduled show. A last minute model follows cancellation: In May, the Rookie Boy Epex band announced and then canceled a concert in China and the G-dragon superstar demolished an average exhibition of Shanghai the same month.
Kep1er, formed through the reality show Mnet “Girls Planet 999”, made his debut in 2022 and quickly increased in popularity, with successes such as “Up!” And “SHO”. Since then the group has visited Asia and has performed in Japan, South Korea and Southern parts -East Asia, building a reputation for strong vocal and dance performances. Their Canceled Fuzhou concert would have scored a significant step towards reconnection with the profitable Chinese market.
