Just as tickets went on sale for KCON 2024 in Los Angeles, the K-pop mega festival and convention announced a special surprise guest to its lineup as well as three noteworthy names as hosts.
For its first KCON Los Angeles since first hitting its stage in 2017, NCT 127 has been announced as part of a “special lineup” for the fest, joining previously announced stars like ZICO, ENHYPEN, P1Harmony, NMIXX, A.C.E and more. A graphic announcing the group’s involvement featured seven members of the group — Johnny, Yuta, Doyoung, Jaehyun, Jungwoo, Mark and Haechan — as leader Taeyong began fulfilling his mandatory South Korean military service in March, and Taeil was announced to enlist this year as well and may begin his service by the July performance.
KCON also revealed the three hosts that will hold MC duties for the live taping of M Countdown, the weekly live performance program on the K-pop music channel Mnet, which occasionally goes abroad for live tapings.
Rowoon, the Korean-drama actor Rowoon and former member of boy band SF9, will host Friday, July 26, marking his first appearance at KCON LA since 2019. Solo star Jeon Somi is the M Countdown host for Saturday, July 27, to mark her long-awaited return to L.A. and first time back at KCON since 2016 when she first performed with her former girl group, I.O.I. Finally, top K-drama actor Kim Soo Hyun will host on Sunday, June 28.
Notably, KCON’s central featuring of stars like Kim Soo Hyun and Rowoon marks a move back towards featuring more actors from Korea as it did in past iterations during the ’10s despite the prominence of K-dramas and Korean cinema, arguably growing more prominent in the post-pandemic years.
Tickets for KCON’s general onsale opened this afternoon, June 10, local time. KCON 2024 Los Angeles takes place across Los Angeles’ Crypto.com Arena, LA Convention Center and Gilbert Lindsay Plaza from July 26-28.