KCON LA 2023 Rounds Out Another Successful, K-Culture Filled Weekend

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA / LOS ANGELES, CA – August 21, 2023 – World’s No.1 K-culture festival KCON LA 2023 presented by Samsung Galaxy, successfully wrapped up in Downtown Los Angeles this weekend at the Los Angeles Convention Center and Crypto.com Arena with around 140,000 fans in attendance. Also, 5.9M viewers from 176 regions have tuned in for the event livestream. For the 11th year, since launching in 2012, KCON celebrated Korean pop culture and entertainment at the largest event of its kind in the world. 

The Ultimate K-culture Convention Experience

Created by leading entertainment company CJ ENM, KCON is the ultimate destination for everything K-culture. The 2023 installment upgraded its experiential content and space design, offering an enhanced KCON experience and encapsulating the true meaning of its theme, “Be a KCONer.” 

This weekend, K-culture fans all over the world were able to visit 278 convention floor booths and participate in 153 convention programs. These included KCON STAGE, PANEL&WORKSHOP, Dance All Day, KCON SQUARE and much more. The SHOWCASE: NICE TO MEET U also brought on stage up-and-coming K-POP acts 8TURN, CRAXY, JUST B, LIMELIGHT, RIIZE, VERIVERY, and XG. 

Additionally, KCONers could experience firsthand a variety of Korean brands. 

This year’s title sponsor Samsung Galaxy operated a zone where attendees could try out their latest products Galaxy Z Flip5 and Galaxy Z Fold5, and showcased content created in collaboration with K-POP stars. Korea’s No.1 Health & Beauty store Olive Young held a booth centered around K-lifestyle, while CJ Live Studio featured CJ-affiliate programs such as Tous Les Jour, Olive Young, CJ-Unesco girls’ education campaign alongside artist sessions.

Also, “Jinny’s Kitchen” that aired on CJ ENM’s K-content channel tvN and is available on Amazon Prime Video, operated a booth designed to replicate the actual restaurant and offered attendees the chance to become a member of the show crew. Nah Yung Suk, the producer of “Jinny’s Kitchen,” also took the time to visit the booth, engaging with fans and sharing the growing love for K-variety shows around the world.

Just like previous years, KCON LA 2023 partnered with ‘Korea Foundation for Cooperation of Large&Small Business, Rural Affairs’ to bring 50 small businesses spanning beauty, consumer goods and food under the name “K-COLLECTION,”  laying the foundation for brands to be introduced in the U.S. market.

KCON’s Unprecedented 3-Day SHOW that Brought 21 K-POP Acts

For the first time ever KCON hosted three full nights of SHOW. Night one featured performances from CRAVITY, IVE, NMIXX, SHOWNU & HYUNGWON (MONSTA X), TAEMIN, TAEYONG, and WayV. Night two showcased ATEEZ, INI, Kep1er, RAIN, XG, xikers, and ZEROBASEONE. Lastly, night three included EVERGLOW, (G)I-DLE, ITZY, JO1, Lapillus, Stray Kids, and THE BOYZ.

KCON LA 2023 also brought back the fan favorite DREAM STAGE where fans auditioned in dance contests at the DANCE ALL DAY area at the convention to win a chance to perform with ITZY, IVE and ZEROBASEONE at the SHOW.

New this year, KCON partnered with iHeartRadio’s KIIS FM to bring the first-ever “K-POP VILLAGE” to the convention center, free to the general public. On Saturday, KIIS-FM welcomed performing artists including NOTD, Tkay, Benson Boone, and LEO. Special appearances were made by ATEEZ, Kep1er, XG, and xikers.

Joon Beom Sim, Head of Music Entertainment, CJ ENM said “It was refreshing to see the audience of such diversity enjoying K-culture with friends and family. We will continue to create more opportunities so that more people around the world get to experience K-POP and K-culture through KCON.”

KCON LA is an annual multi-day event in Downtown Los Angeles consisting of three full days of convention activities including workshops, panels, and more, followed by musical performances from top K-pop artists each night. More information on the event can be found at www.kconusa.com.

About CJ ENM

CJ ENM is a leading entertainment company founded in Korea in 1995. CJ ENM’s Entertainment division is engaged in a wide range of industry business areas, including media content, music, film and performing arts, providing its leading original content to various media platforms around the world. CJ ENM has created, produced and distributed globally-acclaimed content, including Oscar-winning film “Parasite,” Tony Award-winning musical “Kinky Boots,” record-breaking Korean films including “Roaring Currents” and TV series such as “Guardian: The Lonely and Great God,” “I Can See Your Voice” and more. United under the slogan “We live to discover Untold Originals,” CJ ENM has three major production and distribution studios: drama production powerhouse Studio Dragon, U.S.-based studio Fifth Season and K-OTT content production studio CJ ENM STUDIOS. CJ ENM also presents KCON, the world’s No.1 K-Culture festival, and MAMA AWARDS, the world’s No.1 K-POP awards, in order to bring K-culture experiences to people all over the world. To learn more about CJ ENM, please visit: http://www.cjenm.com

About KCON USA

KCON USA (kconusa.com) is the largest fan festival in North America celebrating Korean culture and music. The convention launched in 2012 with over 10,000 fans attending and has more than doubled annually since then, reaching over 158,000 fans in 2019. KCON is now established in Los Angeles as the annual flagship event for American fans of Hallyu and Asian pop culture, providing the largest forum for fans to directly connect with each other, as well as artists and professionals from the Korean entertainment industry. In 2017, the brand further expanded internationally, presenting KCON in Mexico and Australia as well as returning to Japan. KCON has also held events in France, UAE and Thailand.

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