Fans of K-actor Byeon Woo-seok flame event organiser online after Singapore fan meet fiasco

SINGAPORE – On the heels of the hit K-drama Lovely Runner (2024), leading man Byeon Woo-seok embarked on an Asia fan meet tour that took him to cities such as Taipei, Bangkok, Jakarta and Singapore.

And while the 32-year-old South Korean actor certainly charmed onstage, those who attended his Summer Letter fan meet held at the Singapore Expo on June 30 say they were disappointed by the event’s poor organisation.

OnSingapore-based event organiser Three Angles Production’s Instagram page, the latest post on June 29– about the show day schedule for Byeon’s Singapore fan meet – has attracted about 700 mostly negative comments from fans.

Many complained about the chaotic wristband redemption process on June 30. Fans could not enter the show venue without exchanging their tickets for a wristband on show day. The wristbands were given out to fans according tothe fan meet ticket tiers they purchased – ranging from $140 for Bronze to $280 for VIP.

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In the post, Three Angles Production said wristband redemption would begin at 10.30am. Many attendees, like Ms Amanda Lee, assumed the redemption would be available until 6pm, the designated start time of the event.

But when the 25-year-old marketeer, who bought a $210 Gold tier ticket, got to Singapore Expo at 2.45pm, that was not the case.

She tells The Straits Times: “I saw so many people waiting outside and the organiser had printed a last-minute sign to say there had been a change to the wristband redemption schedule and that it would resume at 3.30pm.”

She adds that queues for redeeming tickets for each category were also messy.

“There were different snaking queues everywhere and some of the ushers were just holding up a piece of paper with ‘Silver’ or ‘Bronze’ written with a pen. I mean, who can see that? Everyone had to try and figure out where the queue starts for each tier’s redemption,” she recalls.

At 6pm, there were still long queues to redeem tickets. The show eventually began after an almost one-hour delay and lasted 1½ hours.

Indonesian fan Sheila Al Wahida, 28, flew to Singapore as part of a group of 50 fans from different Indonesian cities who gathered to attend Byeon’s Singapore fan meet. She also purchased a $210 Gold tier ticket.

She laments: “How can it be that the event is supposed to start at 6pm, but the queue for wristband redemption is still so long after 6pm? Then, as customers, we have to experience the consequences of the event starting an hour late? The frustrating part was that there was no communication nor apology from the organisers on why the event started late.”

Many also lambasted the choice of event host, who introduced himself as “Chris”, calling him amateur, horrible and unprofessional. They also took issue with the poor sound system, which muffled Byeon’s singing segments.

Ms Lee felt the emcee was the most disappointing part of the fan meet.

She says: “He kept talking, and this meant Byeon Woo-seok didn’t get much time to interact with fans. I barely got to hear him over the course of the fan meet.”

Fans also slammed the host for attempting to give away posters signed by Byeon to waiting fans during a giveaway segment while the star was backstage. Byeon istypicallysupposed to do that personally during his fan meets.

Eventually, Byeon hurried back onstage to give out the signed posters himself.

ST has reached out to Three Angles Production, which has not replied to any of the fan comments in its latest post, for comment.

According to its website, the company is a concert promoter, show producer and event manager established in 2004, with additional offices in Jakarta, Manila, Seoul and Melbourne.

It previously organised South Korean band The Rose’s concert in Jakarta and Manila in 2023, Thai stars Billkin Putthipong Assaratanakul and PP Krit Amnuaydechkorn’s joint fan meet in Manila in 2023 and South Korean actor Jung Hae-in’s fan meet in Jakarta in 2023.

It also organised K-rapper B.I’s concert at the Capitol Theatre here in June and K-pop star Chung Ha’s fan meet in Singapore in 2019.

• Additional reporting by Joanne Soh