Extra Korean pop concert scheduled in Paris

A South Korean talent agency said Wednesday it has scheduled an extra concert next month in Paris featuring its top acts, after tickets for the originally planned show sold out quickly last month.

Seoul-based S.M. Entertainment had earlier set up a show on June 10 at Le Zenith de Paris concert hall, which seats about 6,000 people, and the extra concert will be held on the following day.

Tickets for that show went on sale on April 26 but sold out in just 15 minutes. The ticket shortage prompted hundreds of French fans to rally in front of the Louvre Museum earlier this month, demanding that an extra concert be scheduled amid soaring prices for scalped tickets.

The shows will feature Girls' Generation, Super Junior, TVXQ, SHINee and f(x), all of them popular girl groups and boy bands who have enjoyed a recent surge in international fame.

Korean pop music, branded "K-pop," has gained worldwide popularity through video-sharing Web sites such as YouTube and social networking services (SNS).

"With well-executed performances by our artists, we expect these concerts to further spread the K-pop fever across Europe," an official with S.M. said.

Tickets for the new show can be purchased online at Live Nation (www.livenation.fr) or Fnac (www.fnacspectacles.com).

The S.M. tour has previously stopped in Seoul, Los Angeles, Tokyo and Shanghai and will return to Tokyo in September this year. (Yonhap)