Unlike the cancellation incident of singer Lee Seung-hwan's concert in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province, the concert in Gimhae, South Gyeongsang Province scheduled for the 29th will proceed as planned.
The Gimhae Culture and Tourism Foundation announced on the 26th that Lee Seung-hwan's 35th debut anniversary concert, "Heaven," will proceed as scheduled at the Maru Hall in Gimhae Culture Center at 5 p.m. on the 29th.
The concert is currently sold out with 1,350 seats.
On the city website, there were posts for and against the concert on the 'Appeal to the Mayor' bulletin board before and after the cancellation incident of Lee Seung-hwan’s concert in Gumi.
The content of the posts included opposing views, with one side arguing for the cancellation of performances by singers who openly express political bias, and the other side insisting that the concert should be seen for the fans and that pre-censoring cultural performances itself is political bias.
There were also numerous inquiries from fans who had purchased tickets for the Lee Seung-hwan concert.
Regarding this, the foundation maintained its principle to handle the situation according to regulations and procedures, noting that although there were some disputes over the Lee Seung-hwan concert, the application, review, and approval process were carried out following the management and operation regulations of the Gimhae Culture Center and rental regulations of the venue, in consideration of purchased customers and smooth performance proceedings.
A foundation official said, “Especially in a situation where end-of-year cultural performances are being canceled or experiencing a decline in audience due to the impeachment situation, there are no issues with the perspective of the sold-out fans and the performance proceeding as it is.”
Previously, the city of Gumi canceled the venue rental for the Lee Seung-hwan concert due to concerns over audience and public safety, as well as differences in opinions surrounding the signing of a pledge prohibiting political agitation.
Lee Seung-hwan immediately expressed regret and announced that a lawsuit for damages would be filed against Kim Jang-ho, the mayor of Gumi. Im Jae-sung, an attorney from Hae Maru Law Office, representing Lee Seung-hwan, conveyed through an official statement on the 24th that "in consultation with Lee Seung-hwan," a lawsuit for damages would be filed against Mayor Kim Jang-ho, who unilaterally and unjustly canceled the Gumi Culture and Arts Center venue contract on the 23rd (hereafter referred to as "this unjust cancellation incident"), causing the cancellation of the 35th anniversary performance of Lee Seung-hwan on the 25th (hereafter called "this performance incident").
Subsequently, fans also conducted a donation relay using refunded concert tickets after the Gumi performance cancellation.
It also became a topic of discussion when Mayor Kim mentioned Lee's age. He stated, "It's not about taking issue with Lee Seung-hwan's personal political inclinations," but he also noted, "Lee Seung-hwan is 60 years old." He added, "Isn't it necessary to consider situations that could cause political misunderstanding and division among citizens when there are national tours? He's someone who has lived long enough, and that he went ahead with this despite it being entirely predictable is incomprehensible."
Additionally, he said, "This is my personal opinion, but there is a notion of commercial morality," explaining, "For example, when a friend asks you to host a wedding ceremony, typically there is an ethical tradition and commercial morality in Korea to refrain from places like funerals before attending a wedding."