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K-pop top awards show skips Hong Kong due to protests: Source

Ju-min Park (Reuters)
Seoul
Tue, November 12, 2019

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K-pop top awards show skips Hong Kong due to protests: Source South Korean singer Taeyeon, a member of K-Pop girl group Girls Generation, arrives on the red carpet at the Mnet Asian Music Awards (MAMA) at Asia-World Expo in Hong Kong on Dec. 2, 2016. (Agence France-Presse/Anthony Wallace)

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n annual K-pop festival is not happening in Hong Kong this year due to months-long political unrest, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said on Monday.

Hong Kong has hosted the Mnet Asian Music Awards (MAMA) since 2012, where top K-pop artists including global phenomenon boyband BTS performed for years. In previous years, tens of thousands of K-pop fans packed stadiums in Hong Kong for the awards.

The move follows a number of organizers delaying or cancelling sports, concerts and other events due to the pro-democracy protests. Hong Kong's premier women's tennis event planned for October was postponed. The city's soccer matches were also postponed.

Hong Kong police shot and critically wounded a protester and a man was doused with petrol and set on fire on Monday as the Chinese-ruled territory spiraled into rare working-day violence in its 24th week of unrest.

"This year, after internal discussions, the MAMA organizer decided not to hold the event in Hong Kong because of the protests," the source said.

Read also: Protests split Hong Kong entertainment world; many keep silent

South Korea's CJ ENM Co Ltd, the show's organizer, told Reuters in a statement that Hong Kong had not been chosen as the event's venue, considering "various circumstances," without elaborating.

The music awards will take place in Nagoya, Japan on Dec. 4, CJ ENM added. 

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