October concerts in South Korea moved due to protests near arena
In Seoul, South Korea, October concerts by singer Do Kyung-soo, known as D.O. of EXO, and Lee Chang-sub, scheduled at Ticketlink Live Arena in Olympic Park, have been moved to other venues due to ongoing protests near the arena. The Korea Herald reports.
The Seoul leg of Do Kyung-soo’s “Day Off” tour, scheduled for October 2–4, will take place at Kintex Exhibition Center 1 in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province. The concert dates will remain unchanged, but existing reservations will be cancelled and ticket sales will reopen due to a different seating configuration at the new venue.
Lee Chang-sub’s “Unknown” concerts will be moved to the Grand Peace Palace at Kyung Hee University in eastern Seoul. The performances, originally scheduled for October 9–11, will be held on October 16–18. Previously purchased tickets will also be cancelled, and reservations will reopen under a new seating plan.
Protests have continued since June
Protests near Ticketlink Live Arena began after the facility was used as a ballot-counting site in the June 3 election. Ballot shortages were reported in the surrounding area at the time. Protest participants, who claim the election was rigged, have blocked access to the arena since June 5, arguing that it should not be touched in order to preserve possible evidence.
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As a result, the venue has been largely inaccessible for more than three months. Earlier, organizers cancelled trot singer Park Seo-jin’s concerts scheduled for July 4 and 5 because they could not find an alternative venue. U-Know of TVXQ moved his July performances to Jamsil Indoor Stadium about 10 days before they were due to begin, while N.Flying announced the relocation of its concert 21 days before the event.
Event cancellations and relocations
According to a subsidiary of the Korea Sports Promotion Foundation that manages the venues, 15 events at the arena were cancelled or relocated between June 6 and September 27. About 1.07 billion won in venue rental fees, or around $795,000, was refunded for 13 events. The organization estimates that the changes affected about 94,000 concertgoers.
The situation has also drawn greater attention to the shortage of mid-sized and large concert venues in Seoul. The new Seoul Arena complex in the Dobong district in the north of the city has begun accepting booking applications for performances in the second half of 2027. Construction of the complex, whose main arena will hold 28,000 spectators and whose mid-sized venue will hold about 7,000, is planned for completion in the first half of 2027.
