How LA Became the Epicenter of K-Pop Fandom in the U.S.
As K-pop grows in popularity in the US, Los Angeles remains the top destination for fans and artists to meet.
K-pop fandom may be on the ascent in the United States, but there’s nowhere it’s grabbed more attention than Los Angeles. When BTS broke their two-year, pandemic-triggered hiatus from in-person concerts in November 2021, they did so in LA In fact, the K-pop supergroup played four sold-out shows in Inglewood’s So-Fi Stadium. Beyond BTS, no K-pop world tour is complete without a stop in LA, and every summer, the city becomes a one-stop shop for all things K-culture when KCON LA comes to town for a three-day music festival and convention.
“I think, even in Korean culture back home, there is a sort of romance around Los Angeles,” says Joen Choe, SVP of Marketing at CJ ENM America, the organizers behind KCON LA. “LA is a vibrant cultural hub. I think that it's always been the center of Korean American culture.”
Korean immigrants began moving to the Los Angeles region in large numbers in 1965, when the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 lifted national-origin quotas. Between 1960 and 1970, the number of Korean immigrants in the US more than tripled, from 11,200 to 38,700. Today, there are roughly 2 million people of Korean descent living in the US, 30% of which are living in California. More than 300,000 people of Korean ancestry call the greater LA region home. That means that for K-pop fans traveling from Asia, LA is a welcoming oasis of familiar culture.
Inglewood-based K-pop fan and culture journalist Quinci LeGardye lives within walking distance of Kia Forum, where she saw Mamamoo and Agust D in 2023, and SoFi Stadium, where she caught one of BTS’ shows back in 2021. “Part of being a K-pop fan is getting into Korean culture as a whole, and that's literally always here [in LA],” says LeGardye. “The trip that I would plan for a K-pop friend who was coming to visit—a K-pop event doesn’t need to even really be happening. I can just bring them to certain Korean cultural centers and museums, or to try the food at Korean restaurants. And that can just be it.”
While Korean cultural activities may make K-pop fan visits to LA much richer, it is usually a K-pop concert or festival that motivates travel. About 20% of KCON LA attendees are from outside the state of California, says Choe.
KCON launched in 2012 as a one-day event that attracted roughly 10,000 people in Irvine. This July, it is expected to attract 160,000 over three days. “I think, part of the sell [to K-pop companies] is the proximity to Korea, but it's also the proximity to all the media companies and entertainment companies here that we're partnered with,” says Choe. “Journalists are covering events in LA so I think it gives them a sort of media vehicle or platform to get themselves out there, into the global market, just because there is coverage here. It's an ecosystem of sorts.”
Susan Rosenbluth is a Senior Vice President at Goldenvoice, a music promotion company based in LA. In addition to concerts, Goldenvoice organizes festivals, including Coachella, which hosted K-pop acts ATEEZ and Le Sserafim this year. Rosenbluth has been with Goldenvoice since 2003, and still remembers the first K-pop concert she helped promote: an LA stop on the SM Town Live 2010 World Tour. The Staples Center concert was attended by more than 15,000 fans, including two planes filled with fans who flew in from Seoul. “That's when I recognized how big K-pop could be,” says Rosenbluth.
While Rosenbluth can point to major moments in the growth of K-pop, including the release of Psy’s “Gangnam Style” music video in 2012 and the mainstream popularity of BTS, she says demand for K-pop in the LA area and in the greater US has been building steadily over the last 15 years. “It’s never been niche,” Rosenbluth says. “It's always had this unique ability to attract people of all ethnicities.”
Because of the high-spectacle production elements of a K-pop show, Rosenbluth notes that there are additional costs compared to a tour for a singer-songwriter or even a five-piece rock band. The shows cost more to produce, which means they need to sell more tickets to make it worth it. This means going to cities—like LA and New York—that can attract many fans. “There are many times where we can do what we call a ‘double,’” explains Rosenbluth, “which is two shows, at an arena in LA or New York, where we can only do a ‘single’ in Seattle or Washington, DC or Houston or Dallas.” A “double” is more efficient for a major tour that may necessitate moving 120 workers or more from city to city for each additional stop.
It’s not just K-pop companies that need to consider travel costs when planning concerts. According to Seat Geek, the average price of a concert ticket doubled between 2019 and 2023, making the experience less accessible, especially for fans who don’t already live in the city. LeGardye notes that while she doesn’t have the expendable income to see every K-pop show, she can attend one of the many free or low-cost fan events that happen across the city every weekend.
hello82 is an LA-based company that specializes in bridging the gap between K-pop artists and K-pop fans through interactions outside of concert settings. In December 2022, hello82 launched its first fan space, hello82 LA, in the Fairfax District of LA. The 8,000-square foot space hosts fan events (e.g. cupsleeves, random dance plays, and photocard trading days) most weekends, but every few months it also brings K-pop artists into the space to spend time with fans. The events are free (though some require the purchase of a group’s album), with wristbands given out on a “first come, first served'' basis or as part of a random lottery.
“Los Angeles is always the first or last stop for their concerts,” says Kelly Minkyung Shin, Head of Marketing and Community at hello82, which often makes these “layover” events the kick-off or send-off for a North American tour. hello82 tries to facilitate artist-fan interactions that are unique and meaningful, such as painting, dancing, or playing games together.
“We’ve been [to LA] about four or five times, but I don’t think there’s ever a time where we really sat down and spoke to our LA [fans] very closely and just very intimately,” P1Harmony member Keehoo said after the K-pop group’s August 2022 fan meet at hello82 LA. “And I feel like today was a day we were able to do that, so it was very, very special to us.”
From KCON to hello82 to specific concerts, the interactions between K-pop fans and K-pop artists is at the heart of the industry, and no other US city is offering these opportunities as consistently as LA. “There's no doubt in our minds that we are under-serving fans by not being in different cities,” says Choe of KCON’s US presence. “And of course, we have the ambition to eventually do that. But at the end of the day, you know, doing a 160,000-person event in the middle of a city is just a gargantuan undertaking.” Lucky LA.
Kayti Burt is a contributor for Thrillist.