Seouling: Seouling Travels To KCON NY

Seouling is an ongoing series from Soompi featuring photo tours, thoughts, and reviews of places in Seoul. By giving a view into the streets of Korea, Seouling hopes to transport Soompiers to the hub of Korean entertainment.

Seouling without the Seoul? What’s a girl gotta do to get some K-pop feels over in the States? As a recent transport back to the U.S., my life has been in sore need of K-pop color since I returned from Korea three months ago. Where are the idol faces plastered on buses? The cute pictures and packaging on everything? The life-sized cutouts of EXO in front of Nature Republic? Er, wait, those still exist in NYC Koreatown.

Needless to say, I was more than a little thrilled when given the opportunity to represent Soompi at KCON NY. This was it! An opportunity to reignite my K-pop feels again after leaving Korea for a few months.

Although KCON started early morning last Friday, I wasn’t able to make it into the area until the early afternoon. I was immediately blown away by the number of fans and the pure energy on site when I arrived.

It always amazes me when K-pop fans get together and the love and dedication they have for their artists and other fans. This time was no exception. As soon as I stepped into the courtyard surrounding the Prudential Center I could hear fans signing along (in Korean!) to a BTS song to my left, and to my right I saw fans laughing and chatting — all while cosplaying as their favorite idols.

I slowly browsed through the countless stalls and was quickly overloaded with how much amazing stuff was around me. Sheet masks with Song Joong Ki’s face! Hampers in the shape of bumblebees! Hats with idol’s names on them! Everywhere I looked was a proclamation of love for K-pop and Korean culture, and it was amazing.

The hours whittled away on Friday and before I knew it I was stepping out from taking photos at the red carpet and walking into my section for the concert that night.

The energy at the concert was infectious. SEVENTEEN, Ailee, Dynamic Duo, Crush, and BTOB killed the night. Highlights included: SLAYLEE — Ailee crushing it after technical difficulties and continuing to sing acapella after the music cute out, SEVENTEEN being adorable, BTOB speaking hilarious English (see below), and Dynamic Duo and Crush reminding me why I love Korean hip-hop.

Yook Sungjae: “Um… YEAH… OK… Next song is.. DON’T WORRY BE HAPPY “It’s OK”, OK?!?! LISTEN.” ??? #BTOB #KCON16NY

— Team Soompi (@TeamSoompi) June 25, 2016

Never change Sungjae, never change.

The evening quickly rushed by and I quickly found myself on a slow train ride home, tired but content with a full day of revitalizing my soul at KCON. Now when’s the next one?

Did you attend KCON NY? What were your highlights of the convention and what was your favorite performance?

harmonicar is an avid INFINITE fan, and was once served beer by Sungyeol in Seoul.

Photo Credit: CJ E&M