Construction is under way in Seoul on CJ LiveCity Arena, a venue which aims to be the first major arena dedicated to K-pop.
Backed by CJ Live City, a subsidiary of Korean entertainment conglomerate CJ ENM, the venue is designed for mega-scale concerts with 20,000 indoor seats, and capacity for a further 40,000 outdoors. It is scheduled to open in 2024.
The company held a ground-breaking ceremony on Thursday to mark the official debut of the construction phase.
The facility is designed to enable the set up and deconstruction of even large-scale concerts within one day. That should enable it to host over 190 events per year. The arena also includes a dedicated rehearsal space, which will help maximize the quality of stage production and performance.
AEG, a company with global experience in concert planning and operation, will work closely with the arena’s operators.
CJ Live City said that the music arena will be the heart of a ‘Live K-Content Experience District’. This will also house content-experience facilities including a ‘global content business town’ that accommodates cultural content companies, landmark facilities, retail shops, accommodation and waterfront gardens.
Korean IP is to be used at the venue in music, film, TV series and entertainment shows.
CJ ENM has a leading position in Korean feature film and was one of the backers behind both Snowpiercer and multi-Oscar winning film “Parasite.” It also has a key position in Korean TV drama, through its majority holding in Studio Dragon, and through its Tving streaming platform. While it has relevant music industry experience through K-pop events including MAMA and KCON it has yet to gain a dominant position in the music sector. That could change if it succeeds with a bid to buy a significant minority stake in SM Entertainment. While CJ ENM may not be the only bidder for the shareholding out up for sale by K-pop pioneer Lee Soo-man, local media report that CJ is the frontrunner.