2012 at KCON '12 KCON '12 was held on October 13 at the
Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre in
Irvine, California. Music artists invited to perform include
4Minute,
B.A.P,
Exo-M,
Nu'est,
VIXX, and
G.NA. Jeff Yang of
The Wall Street Journal reported that KCON '12 attracted over 10,000 people.
2013 KCON '13 was held from August 24 to 25 at the
Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena. The lineup included K-pop artists
Exo (K & M),
2AM,
Teen Top,
f(x),
G-Dragon,
Crayon Pop,
Dynamic Duo, Yu Seung Woo and
DJ Koo. It also included rapper
Missy Elliott, who is featured on one of G-Dragon's singles.
Super Junior-M's
Henry Lau performed and spoke at a panel.
2014 2014 red carpet 2014 red carpet with
CNBLUE 2014 2014 KCON '14 was held on August 9–10, returning for a second year to Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena. The artist lineup included
B1A4,
BTS,
CNBLUE,
G-Dragon,
Girls' Generation,
IU,
Jung Joon-young,
Spica,
Teen Top, and
VIXX. Featured guests included
Lee Seung-gi,
Lee Seo-jin,
Yoo In-na,
Nam Gyu-ri,
Kim Ji-seok; and
Eric Nam, who hosted red carpet interviews, filmed by
Viki.
DramaFever documented the red carpet, explaining the missing Girls' Generation 9th member,
Sooyoung, who was filming a drama.
NBC News interviewed
Billboard K-Town columnist Jeff Benjamin, journalist-author
Euny Hong, and Girls' Generation's
Seohyun and
Tiffany to answer "what is K-pop"." In response to
Fusion TV, KCON co-project manager Angela Killoren said, "There's still this sense that, I'm the fan, and I'm the only fan, or I'm one of very few, and these are my artists, you have this incredible sense of – you discovered them, and you own them." The two nightly concerts were shown on the weekly K-pop cable television show
M Countdown. "2 Nights in LA" was broadcast on
Mnet America in the U.S. and in multiple countries.
Danny Im of Mnet America's show "Danny From LA" hosted the concerts, along with "DFLA" co-host
Dumbfoundead, Jung Joon-young, Tiffany, and opener Lee Seung-gi."DFLA", in its third season, filmed a live taping of the show at the convention. For this year's event, Mnet America started a new web-series, "KCON EXPERIENCE 2014", with multiple episodes, including footage of the stars' arrival at the airport in Los Angeles, backstage activities, and the weekend's panels, fan meetings, food stands. The convention included an outdoor marketplace, food truck alley, a mini
4DX theatre, and open stage area; with panels and workshops about music, k-dramas,
e-sports, choreography styles, makeup, hair trends; and as billed, "all things
Hallyu". Korean gaming channel
OnGameNet (OGN) also organized a "
League of Legends Champion Festival", an event involving Korean team
CJ Entus Frost and American team
Cloud 9. The convention doubled attendance from the previous year, with 42,000 attending. Of those 42,000, nearly 40 percent come from outside California, most were female, and less than 10 percent were Korean.
2015 By the end of August, KCON '15's total attendance for the U.S. and Japan was 90,000. L.A.'s three day events had 58,000 attendees, and the two concerts at the Staples Center resulted in a sold-out crowd of 28,000 fans and Gross Sales of $2,055,800. Newark's total was 17,000, and Saitama's was 15,000. In November, yearly attendance totals grew to 107,000 with the addition of the Jeju dates. Approximately 17,000 people attended the events in Jeju. 2015 L.A. 2015 L.A. 2015 L.A. 2015 L.A.
Saitama, Japan – April 22 KCON '15 expanded outside the United States for the first time and was held in Japan at the
Saitama Super Arena.
M.I.B's Korean-Japanese vocalist
Kangnam was the events ambassador. The convention/outdoor stage featured Korean artists CODE-V,
High4,
Shu-I,
Tahiti, and
5tion. Performances on the main stage included
Got7, Super Junior, Kangnam,
My Name,
Lovelyz,
Block B,
Sistar,
Infinite,
B1A4,
2PM's
Jun. K, and
Supernova.
Freelance journalist Patrick St. Michel, who has lived in Japan for years, covered the Saitama event for
MTV Iggy, complimenting the eagerness of the enthusiastic fans (15,000 at the concert), and ''KCON 15's'' successful
soft sell of K-pop as a means to help smooth over a long and complicated relationship between Japan and South Korea.
Los Angeles – July 31 – August 2 On April 17, 2015, KCON said the California convention would expand to a three-day event, and would move from the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena to
L.A. Live and the
Staples Center in
Downtown Los Angeles. The convention was preceded with U.S. news reports about the drama and film stars to attend,
People interviewed "Korean heartthrob"
Kim Soo-hyun, and
The Hollywood Reporter accounted for Kim (
My Love from the Star), Korean American
Ki Hong Lee (
The Maze Runner, one of ''People's
"Sexiest Men Alive"), U.S. born Daniel Henney (his latest Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders) and Son Ho-jun (Reply 1994); as well as drama sessions to be headlined by writer Park Ji-eun (producer, My Love From Another Star'') and director
Jin Hyuk (
Master's Sun,
Doctor Stranger). Actor Son Ho-jun and director Go Min-gum of
tvN's "Mr. Baek the Homemade Food Master" appeared at DramaFever's co-sponsored screening room of trending K-dramas. English-language South Korean media
Yonhap called the musical line-up "some of the hottest K-pop artists." It included
AOA, Block B, Crush,
Got7,
Monsta X,
Red Velvet,
Roy Kim,
Shinhwa,
Sistar, Super Junior and
Zion.T.
Getty Images captured photos of Kim Soo-hyun, Eric Nam, and many of the musical performers, individually identifying each name in girl groups AOA, Red Velvet and Sistar. and interviewed Red Velvet and Got7. The
Los Angeles Times reviewed Sunday's stage, "the year's most significant concert for one of the world's most fascinating music and cultural scenes." "Mega-group" Super Junior's fan base, the "ELFs", were noticed by media, wearing their blue devil horns, with one 23-year-old describing that when she was sad, just looking at Super Junior made her really happy. Fusion TV named seven of their "favorite KCON fashion statements" of the performing bands. Another South Korean English-language newspaper,
The Korea Times, headlined, "K-pop proves itself a gateway to South Korea at KCON", and interviewed two "older" fans, aged 28 and 31, whose developing interest in K-pop and K-dramas led them to further interests in other Korean culture (technology, skin products, food and fashion). They said, "Angelenos have shown their strong enthusiasm for all things Korean." A day before opening,
Vogue discussed fashion and favorite designers with AOA and
VIXX, the later kept busy with a first time "showcase" in
Orlando, Florida. Vogue told East Coast K-pop fans to "rejoice...KCon, America's premier (read: only) Korean pop culture convention comes to New York for the first time this weekend, bringing four of the country's top acts stateside", and "Keep your eyes and ears out for snappy songs and slick dance moves, but above all, for the colorful fashion trends." Killoren told Fusion TV that fans are eager to learn as much as possible about their idols, so the convention tries to provide this, through Q&A sessions with artists by
emcees, and "hi-touches" or
high fives between fans and band members. The Korean Cultural Service New York (KCSNY) combined their fifth annual global K-pop singing and dancing competition (with auditions held worldwide) with KCON, for a pre-show concert of six finalists. N.Y.'s
Washington Heights group, The Class, won with a performance of VIXX's "Hyde", and will travel to South Korea to represent the U.S. at the
K-Pop World Festival. Teen Top's appearance made them the first band to perform for three consecutive years; along with Girls' Generation,
The New York Times said, "The tears began as soon as Teen Top waved hello", and interviewed passionate fans, some who lined up for the concert at 2:00 a.m.,
Jeju, South Korea – November 6–7 In November, KCON held its first 2-day domestic convention and concerts on the South Korean island of
Jeju. Daily solo performances were held at the convention hall stage, and a main stadium concert on the second night, with a line-up including Shinhwa, Roy Kim, Block B,
SG Wannabe, SPICA, M.I.B's Kangnam,
Poten,
Park Boram (soloist from
Superstar K2),
Oh My Girl,
Shin Seung-hun, Teen Top,
Day6,
Paloalto,
Mamamoo,
Sonamoo and Chen Zi Tong. The Jeju Tourism Organization and CJ E&M said the event was scheduled in hopes of revitalizing the local economy by drawing more tourists to the island. The second season of KCON:TACT was also held on Mnet and KCON's YouTube channel through membership from October 16 until October 25. On February 16, 2021, Mnet announced that the online concert and meet and greet would return for nine days from March 20–28, 2021.
2022 In 2022, KCON returned as in-person events. The events were held from May 7 to October 16 in South Korea, Japan, the United States, and for the first time, Saudi Arabia.
2023 In 2023, KCON was held in Thailand, Japan, the United States, and Saudi Arabia. Attendees at KCON LA 2023 were able to watch performances and collaborative stages, as well as participate in fan-engaging events such as the "K-Con Dream Stage", panels, and workshops.
2024 In 2024,
the CW unveiled the global simulcast for KCON LA Sunday show, marking the first time the event was broadcast live on American television. ==Reception==