Chung Tae-young, CEO and vice chairman of Hyundai Card basically said "Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour, Seoul" could have been a thing - but he was not able to do it, and he's very regretful about that.
Taylor Swift 'Eras Tour' Korea Almost?
According to Korea JoongAng Daily, Chung, 64, expressed his dissatisfaction on Instagram after seeing Swift perform live in Tokyo, Japan.
He wrote, as cited by the news agency, "I shouldve brought the concert to Korea and heard 'Hello, Seoul' instead of 'Hello, Tokyo.'"
Asian fans would certainly agree - with many expressing frustration that Taylor Swift only went to Singapore and Tokyo for the Asian leg of her tour.
Through Hyundai Card's Culture Project, Chung has played a key role in bringing a number of international music icons to South Korea, including Lady Gaga, Paul McCartney, Bruno Mars, Beyoncé, and Coldplay.
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Maybe Next Time, Seoul
For this reason, Swift's tour is conspicuously missing from this outstanding list.
The business tycoon also emphasized the difficulties South Korea encounters while organizing major performances, pointing out a crucial obstacle as the absence of a sufficiently large venue.
The fact that Gocheok Skydome, which has a capacity of 25,000, and Seoul's Jamsil Olympic Stadium, which can hold 45,000 people, are both undergoing renovations until 2026, highlights the lack of appropriate infrastructure.
In order to protect the soccer field, Seoul World Cup Stadium also imposes rigorous limitations on its use for non-sporting activities, even with a seating capacity of roughly 66,700.
The only two venues on "The Eras Tour" in Asia, Tokyo Dome in Japan and National Stadium in Singapore, each have a capacity of 55,000, a capacity that contrasts sharply with this restriction.
According to Chosun Daily, Chung also shared pictures from his tour of various Tokyo Dome areas, highlighting the enormous financial impact Swift's concerts had on the towns that welcomed her.
The phrase "Swiftonomics" was created by US financial authorities to draw attention to the significant economic boosts that the artist's tour provided in the previous year.
Per Forbes, the U.S. portion of the tour alone brought in over $5 billion in consumer spending. CNN also stated that Swift's Tokyo concerts were projected to generate $226 million in economic impact, underscoring South Korea's lost economic opportunity.
Swift, 35, last visited Korea as part of her "Speak Now" global tour in February 2011. Srettha Thavisin, the prime minister of Thailand and minister of finance, has also stated that he was not aware that Singapore was giving Swift between US$2 million and US$3 million each show to guarantee its place as the tour's only stop in Southeast Asia.
He apologized for losing out on Swift's opportunity to perform in Thailand.
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