One of the main acts for the 2023 Saemangeum World Jamboree's "K-Pop Super Live" concert, NewJeans, has been spotted during their stage preparations.
NewJeans performed at the "K-Pop Super Live" concert taking place from 7 pm to 9 pm on August 11 (KST) at the Seoul World Cup Stadium.
At the second half of the event starting at 8 pm, NewJeans is scheduled to perform their songs "ETA" and "Hype Boy."
The group arrived on site earlier in the day to conduct rehearsals. Due to rain, they were seen dancing to "Hype Boy" under a canopy on a wet stage.
Photos also captured the members waiting in the standby area, wearing name tags and appearing to wait their turn. Notably, member Hanni looked visibly fatigued, leading some to point out that the expressions of the NewJeans members seemed particularly weary.
Support for NewJeans flooded online communities, with comments such as "This is practically social service duty," "K-Forced Duty," "It's heartbreaking and pitiful," and "Given the circumstances, their expressions look even more sorrowful."
NewJeans Caught in Controversial Jamboree Rehearsal: Facing Criticisms of 'Forced Participation'
The sympathy for NewJeans stems from concerns over the mishandling of the World Jamboree event, which took place in Buan-gun, Jeonbuk on August 1. Speculations arose that the concert organizers forcibly mobilized various artists to salvage the situation.
Some political circles even suggested that the Ministry of National Defense should promote BTS's performance at the "K-Pop Super Live" concert, leading to controversy.
BTS's fandom released a statement condemning this as an "anti-democratic act," followed by criticisms from various sectors.
While BTS's performance did not materialize, Big Hit (now HYBE) involved other artists from their label, including NewJeans and fromis_9. Attendees of the Jamboree were given BTS photo cards as a token.
Besides this, NewJeans member Hyein is co-hosting the concert with actor Gong Myung, indicating the group's significant role in this event.
For this concert, along with NewJeans, acts like IVE, NCT Dream, ITZY, MAMAMOO, The Boyz, Shownu & Hyungwon, fromis_9, Zerobaseone, Kang Daniel, Kwon Eunbi, Jo Yuri, P1Harmony, KARD, The Newsix, ATBO, Circus, HollyBang, and Liberante, making it a total of 19 teams, are set to perform.
