Last year, YG Entertainment’s girl group BabyMonster filled a 10,000-seat arena in Chiba, Japan, while large-scale K-pop concerts were scarce in Korea—not for lack of fans but for lack of suitable venues. Korea relies heavily on stadiums and gymnasiums, with few dedicated large-capacity arenas and limited weekend or consecutive-run availability. Japan, by contrast, has recently opened multiple 10,000–17,000-seat arenas in Tokyo, Nagoya, Kobe and Kagawa, making tour scheduling easier and drawing major K-pop acts to use Japan as a key tour hub. With roughly 40 million foreign visitors to Japan versus about 18.5 million to Korea last year, the tourism gap is partly driven by entertainment infrastructure: when big K-pop shows are held in Japan, spending on flights, hotels, food and shopping benefits Japan. Korea’s culture ministry plans to spend 12 billion won to create more “temporary venues” by repurposing multipurpose stadiums until new dedicated arenas are built. But experts warn that temporary fixes—improving sound and lighting—won’t be enough: large tours need sufficient power, loading areas, stage logistics, safety, and audience sightlines. For the funding to matter long-term, Korea needs a clear timetable for dedicated venues, operational models and sustainable revenue plans so K-pop’s global momentum benefits the domestic live-music ecosystem.
