Over 12,000 hallyu fans sing along Arirang in Paris

Concertgoers lined up in a 1-km queue from early in the morning despite falling rain around the venue of the "K-Con 2016 France," which took place on Thursday to mark the 130th anniversary of Korea-France ties. Elisa (21), who calls herself a big fan of hallyu, or Korean Wave, said, “I tented out for two days to watch K-pop stars I have dreamed of seeing in person at standing seats right in front of the stage.”

The concert, which was moderated by Lee Teuk, a member of boyband Super Juniors who was seen clad in tidy hanbok (traditional Korean costume) suit, featured a number of "hallyu" idol music bands including Shiny, F(x), BTS, Block B, I.O.I, and FT Island. In the opening stage, all performers in the concert sang "Arirang Love song" in a melody that was arranged into a K-pop version. A crowd of more than 12,500 who were filling the concert hall to its capacity, sang and dance along not only songs of Korean idol music bands but also "Arirang," the famed traditional Korean folk song, a scene that is very rare. President Park Geun-hye, who was on state visit to France, also watched the K-Con and spent time together with fans of Korean Wave in France on the day.

Tickets for the K-pop concert at "Paris Acore Hotel Arena," the venue of the concert, were sold out far faster than concerts of world-famous musicians such as Paul McCartney, Adel and Celine Dion, whose concerts are around the time of the K-Con. When the tickets for the K-Con were put on sale on April 29, 10,000 seats were sold out in just three hours, and extra 2,500 tickets were also sold in an hour. Forty percent of all tickets were sold in Europeans countries including France, the U.K., the Netherlands, Germany and France.

Being hosted by the Culture, Sports and Tourism Ministry and CJ Group, the event was also involved exhibition and convention that introduced diverse genres of hallyu culture. More than 60 companies engaged in K-food, cosmetics, hanbok, the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, education and travel joined the event while launching marketing activities that utilize hallyu.

President Park also visited the exhibition hall for 30 minutes prior to watching the concert. Guided by Min-ho, a member of idol music band "Shiny," Park appeared at hanshik (Korean food) dissert bar and Korean cosmetics booths, where she said, “To secure the industrial growth momentum of advances into foreign markets, companies need to proactively use hallyu culture.”

파리=전승훈특파원 raphy@donga.com