Seoul city holds free K-pop concert in Bangkok

SEOUL, July 8 (Yonhap) — The Seoul city government held a free K-pop concert in Bangkok this week in celebration of the 10th anniversary of the two cities’ establishing sisterhood relations, officials said Friday.

The Seoul Prime Concert in Bangkok 2016 was held on Thursday evening (local time) at the IMPACT Arena, Exhibition & Convention Center featuring South Korean girl group Sistar, boy band Monsta X and other artists.

Some 12,000 people filled the auditorium, according to the Seoul Metropolitan Government.

The tickets were distributed to Bangkok citizens free of charge in the city and they ran out within five minutes, a city official said.

Famous Thai artists, Season Five and Kangsom Tanatat, were also included in the lineup.

The concert was live streamed through Facebook and YouTube, according to the metropolitan government.

Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon invited Bangkok citizens to visit Seoul if they want to “enjoy K-pop and K-drama,” according to city officials.

The number of Thai visiting South Korea has increased dramatically from 309,000 in 2011 to 466,000 in 2014, though the number has shrank to 371,000 due to the spread of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome in South Korea last year.

In this photo provided by the Seoul Metropolitan Government on July 8, 2016, Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon (5th from L) poses with Thai group Season Five and K-pop girl group Sistar at the IMPACT Arena, Exhibition & Convention Center in Bangkok on July 7. (Yonhap)