"Kostic would have to shoot from the background...he pulls away...and TOR, TOR, TOR...." Deafening screams begin, which should be heard from miles away.

However, it is only late Saturday afternoon and in Frankfurt's Waldstadion, the Deutsche Bank Park, the union of all Eintracht fan clubs is not practicing jubilant songs for the upcoming Europa League final on Wednesday;

the delighted, enraptured screams from 44,000 throats are aimed at stars other than football, and it is not La Ola that is surging through the sphere of the stadium, but Hallyu, as the phenomenon of the “Korean wave” is called.

Christian Riethmuller

Editor in the Rhein-Main-Zeitung.

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South Korean streaming series such as "Squid Game", cosmetics, fashion and gastronomy and above all pop music from Seoul have conquered the world and softened, if not broken, the hegemony of pop culture, which had previously been shaped by the Anglo-American West.

This trend has now also arrived in Europe and finds expression not least in the first major festival dedicated solely to K-Pop, which is celebrated on Saturday and Sunday under the name KPOP.FLEX in the Frankfurt soccer arena.

Sold out in a short time, it attracts fans from all over Europe, which is reflected not least in the colorful mix of languages ​​on the way to the stadium and in the arena itself: English, French, Italian, Spanish, Turkish, Dutch and Swedish can be heard, of course, too Korean, there is a large Korean community in the Rhine-Main area.

However, this is not even the target group at the "Korea Festival" held in front of the stadium, which sees itself as a fan festival at which fan groups with dance routines and in their sometimes imaginative, sometimes bizarre, sometimes abstruse costumes and official Korean Institutions such as the Ministry of Fisheries present gastronomic products that go beyond the kimchi, which is also becoming increasingly popular in Germany, and are well received, although many fans on the site prefer the tried and tested bratwurst or a burger.

Like on TV

They are also quicker to wolf down and hold with one hand, since the smartphone must always be at the ready in order to react immediately to what is happening on stage, or rather on the various video screens, which play an important role in the spectacle.

The dramaturgy of the show itself is based on that of major entertainment programs on television and not on that of (rock) music festivals.

It follows the visual values ​​of the extremely elaborately produced videos with which K-Pop groups such as BTS or Blackpink have conquered the western pop world.

Before the performances of the groups themselves there is a fashion show dance routines by hip-hop and street dance crews that are nothing short of circus-ready and are rewarded with collective shouts,

The fact that the ecstasy can still be increased becomes evident from the moment the first faces of the groups performing that evening appear on the screens.

Names like Jake or Ni-ki or Sunhoon may mean nothing to many people, but they mean everything to their fans, who are updated daily about their idols via various social media channels.

When Enhypen, as the band is called, to which they belong, physically enters the stage, the cheering knows no bounds, and the enthusiasm of the audience is limited to leaps of joy and screams of happiness.

Mainly female, primarily schoolchildren, sometimes accompanied by their parents, the audience exudes an almost peaceful attitude.

No pushing, hardly any drunk stumblers, only the occasional paramedic,

KPOP.FLEX also differs from conventional festivals in that the music does not even play the main role.

Of course, you can also hear them, mostly in playback and sung along by the fans, but the extremely professionally produced pieces, which are mostly to be found in the urban pop area, could come from anywhere, they are so universal with R&B rhythms, hip-hop elements and autotune vocals.

But more important is the staging, both in the male groups like Enhypen and NCT Dream or the female formations like Mamamoo.

They show their skilful choreographies for one or two songs, which are now danced in dance schools, and otherwise use a long catwalk that extends far from the stage into the arena to present themselves to the audience up close, prefabricated, in a sometimes funny English read translated niceties from cards and then immediately get the audience screaming again.

Almost like in football.

The next KPOP-FLEX is already scheduled.

On June 17th and 18th, 2023, the vocal cords will be challenged again.