Last weekend, girl group BLACKPINK took Taiwan by storm, with 500,000 fans flocking to the Kaohsiung subway for two days after the Black Pink World Tour concert in the southern part of the country. According to Taiwanese media on the 20th, this caused a "homecoming war."
On the 18th, the first day of the concert, Kaohsiung Subway Corporation announced that 256,252 people had gathered at Guo Zati Yuchang Subway Station in Zhaoying District. This is 6,700 more people than participated in the New Year's celebration held since the end of last year.
To accommodate the massive crowds, the Kaohsiung Transportation Bureau operated a three-minute interval between trains at the subway station and deployed 43 shuttle buses to the Taiwan High-Speed Railway (THSR) Zhuying Station. As a result, the congestion caused by the huge number of people stabilized in 110 minutes on the 18th and 90 minutes on the 19th, respectively.
Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai expressed appreciation for the efforts of the relevant authorities, including the National Police Agency, the Cultural Bureau, and the Subway Corporation, as well as the cooperation of citizens.
However, Taiwanese media also reported that fans were unhappy with the intense ticket sales ahead of the concert. On the day of the concert, several cases of fraud related to on-site ticket trading occurred, and outside the concert hall, the police launched a crackdown on the sale of fake goods.
Taiwan's culture minister, Su Zhu, announced on Tuesday that the Ministry of Culture has started researching the eradication of ticket sales by imposing fines through a revision of the law regarding violent ticket sales related to K-pop performances on a radio program in Taiwan.
Before the Black Pink concert, the price of tickets reportedly soared to 45 times the regular price, raising fans' complaints. Tickets for the concert are priced at T$8,800 (about $288), but the price of tickets has allegedly risen up to T$400,000 (about $13,090), up to 45 times.
Finally, Taiwanese media reported that BLACKPINK was scheduled to return to Korea on a private plane on the 19th after a two-day performance in Taiwan, but their departure was postponed to the morning of the 20th due to thick fog at the destination airport.
Massive Crowds Flood Subway Station
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