The ‘1st The Awards’ has established itself as a ‘K-pop festival’ for people around the world, transcending nationality, language, and gender.
The ‘1st The Awards’, where K-pop stars gathered to take their historic first step, was held at 6 PM on the 22nd at the Hwajeong Gymnasium at Korea University in Anam-dong, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul.

Thanks to the global popularity of K-pop, the area in front of the Hwajeong Gymnasium, where the ‘1st The Awards’ was held, was packed with audiences of various nationalities 4-5 hours before the show began. The audience lined up orderly in front of the ticket booth were busy taking ‘proof shots’ with the ‘The Awards’ banner in the background, holding fans and pickets with photos or names of their favorite group members inscribed on them.

Malaysian exchange students in their 20s, Husna and Izzati, who stood in the ‘proof shot line’ while wearing hijabs, had eyes that sparkled with anticipation for the performance. Those who named “P1Harmony and Enhypen” and “ZeroBaseOne” as their ‘favorites respectively said, “We decided to come to the ‘The Awards’ after seeing the SNS advertisement.”We steadily looked up news of awards before the performance. We came to the concert hall to congratulate our ‘favorites’ on their awards.”

Marina (27) and Ashlyn (24), from the US, introduced themselves as ‘Engine (ENHYPEN fandom name)’ who have watched ENHYPEN grow since their debut. They said, “We not only went to the Seoul concert of the world tour ‘Walk the Line’ held at the main stadium of Goyang Sports Complex last October, but also recently went to the Fukuoka concert in Japan” and left words of encouragement in Korean, “Fighting! We love ENHYPEN!”.

In addition to the foreign audience staying in Korea, there were many audience members who flew in from all over the world just to see the ‘The Awards’.

Sisters Liz (29) and Noha (22), who arrived in Korea two weeks ago after changing planes in South Africa and a 13-hour flight, also had tickets to the ‘The Awards’ in their hands. Liz, a ‘K-pop fan’ who has loved K-pop for 10 years since 2015, said, “I looked forward to the performances of all the groups at the ‘The Awards’, including Enhypen and P1Harmony, so I came to see the performances with Noha, who is studying in Korea”.

He, who also runs a K-pop fan club locally, expressed his expectations by saying, “There are so many fans in South Africa who love K-pop groups. I really hope the singers will perform there”.

Jang Chae-rin and Wang So-sa (18), who entered the country the day before from Beijing, China, stood in front of the camera holding a ‘handmade fan’ with the face of Enhypen member Sung Hoon engraved on it. They said, “‘The Awards’, ‘We are looking forward to the special interview with the ‘Snake’ singers,” and “I hope all the singers take good care of themselves and stay healthy and active.”



Reporter Yoo Ji-hye yjh0304@donga.com

This article is automatically translated using Google AI. If you notice any inaccuracies, please let us know at allkstar@donga.com.