By Honorary Reporter Joey Aguilloso from the Philippines 

Photos= Joey Aguilloso

Attending a concert and watching your favorite artists perform right in front of you are an awesome experience. But have you wondered what it feels like to be doing this while sitting beside the first lady of Korea, not to mention meet and briefly talk to her?

Among the many concerts I've gone to in Korea, the "ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Fantasia" concert at Changwon Velodrome in Changwon, Gyeongsangnam-do Province, on Nov. 24 was one of my favorites. I thank Korea.net for giving me the opportunity to represent the organization and my home country of the Philippines at the concert, which was part of the ASEAN-ROK (Republic of Korea) Commemorative Summit in Busan from Nov. 25-26.

I had to travel for five hours from my school dorm to the concert venue, but it was all worth it. I arrived at the venue a few hours before the show started and saw how organized it was from ticketing and the forming of lines outside of Changwon Velodrome. I also met fellow Filipinos who live in Changwon.

When I was told that I'd be on the VIP guest list, I didn't believe it until I arrived at the venue and went through security measures for VIP guests. The VIP seats were a few meters from the stage but we still had a good view and could clearly hear the cheers of the crowd during the performances.

While waiting for the concert to start, the music video of the theme song of the ASEAN-ROK summit, "Side by Side," was played and featured Korean and ASEAN artists including Filipino Darren Espanto.

The concert was hosted by Korean artists Sandara Park, who is also famous in the Philippines, and B1A4's main vocalist Lee Sandeul, my favorite K-pop artist. The crowd and I cheered for them.

Shortly afterwards, first lady Kim Jung-sook arrived at the venue. I had no idea where she would sit until I saw her getting closer to me. Then it dawned on me that we were just two seats apart. A Korea.net staff member who was watching the concert's live coverage even sent me a photo.

(KTV youtube)

 

To say I was starstruck to meet the first lady would be a major understatement. I shook hands with her and exchanged greetings. Being a Hallyu enthusiast, I felt so honored to be at the same event with Korea's first lady. Kim was also accompanied by Narapon Chan-o-cha, the wife of the Thai prime minister. The VIP section was also filled with representatives and community leaders of Gyeongsangnam-do Province.

Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Park Yang-woo in his opening speech said he hopes that everyone could share the cultures of Korea and ASEAN member countries through music.

The concert featured solo and joint performances by Korean artists such as Psy, Boa, NCT127, Sandeul and Se So Neon and those from Thailand (Phum Viphurit), Cambodia (Meas Soksophea), Vietnam (Noo Phuoc Thinh), Myanmar (Wyne Lay) and Indonesia (Cinta Laura).

Personally, the highlight of the concert for me was the joint performance of "Side by Side" because everyone at the concert sang about standing side by side. As the lyrics said, "You can be the light shining the world so fly the sky like a bird. I will be the one right by the side 'cause we can do this with love."

The concert was also a test of how calm I could be because never in my life did I imagine seeing my favorite K-pop artist Lee of B1A4 live and sitting beside Korea's first lady.