K-pop concerts go online in time of pandemic

SEOUL, May 15 (Yonhap) -- Tens of thousands of fans from across the globe simultaneously cheered and applauded in the safety of their own homes when their favorite K-pop boy band, SuperM, appeared on the screen for an online concert.

Streamed live on the internet portal Naver's V Live service on April 26, the two-hour concert brought back together the Billboard-topping K-pop band and its fans from across the world without the hassles of cross-border trips or crowds in the time of a pandemic.

The first-ever exclusively online pop concert, with a fee, according to the group's management agency, drew about 75,000 fans.

The global show business sector, spanning from pop to classical music, has fast turned online, throwing livestreaming charity concerts or other onetime paid performances online as the pandemic brought on-site concerts to a complete halt.

Going technically beyond such online performances, the new breed of K-pop livestreaming concerts heralds the opening of a new chapter in show business, providing larger-than-life concert experiences online through high tech.

A mosaic of hundreds of thousands of moving images showing the individual faces of the latest SuperM concert's spectators flickered in the backdrop of the live show as Alison, one of the fans, posed a question about pastime to Taemin, a member of the boy band.