The Korea Herald

피터빈트

KCON France to kick off amid diplomatic anticipation

By 임정요

Published : June 2, 2016 - 10:14

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The world's largest K-pop festival will kick off in Paris, its first European destination, on Thursday with South Korean President Park Geun-hye attending.

The line-up for KCON France includes the likes of Bangtan Boys, Block B, SHINee, F.T. Island, f(x) and I.O.I, CJ E&M, a South Korean entertainment company, said. I.O.I is a girl group created from cult reality series "Produce 101," which narrowed 101 candidates down to 11 finalists who now comprise the act.

Park, who is in France to celebrate the 130th anniversary of diplomatic ties between South Korea and the European country, is expected to attend the festival's first European edition.

KCON was launched in California in 2012 and has become an annual fixture in the Golden State since. It has traveled around the world, including to New York, Japan, the United Arab Emirates and South Korea's Jeju Island.

Leeteuk of boy band Super Junior will host the concert. Actor Jin Goo, who played a supporting role in runaway hit TV series "Descendants of the Sun," and actress Han Ji-min, who made her big break with a minor role in the classic period drama "Daejanggeum," will also attend the event.

The first batch of tickets sold out within three hours in April, with the second batch gone within an hour in May. CJ E&M said a total of 12,000 tickets were sold.

The festival takes place for one day only on Thursday at Accor Hotels Arena. (Yonhap)