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K-pop girl group Kep1er's highly anticipated fan concert in Fuzhou, China, originally slated for September 13 at the Fujian Meeting Hall, has been postponed indefinitely due to "unavoidable local circumstances," the group's agency announced on August 27.
No replacement date has been set, leaving fans and industry observers uncertain about when the performance might be rescheduled.
The Fuzhou event was intended as a landmark appearance, combining fan interactions with a 15-song setlist, and was expected to seat approximately 1,500 attendees at the venue. It represented one of the first large-scale K-pop events on the Chinese mainland since an informal ban on Korean entertainment took effect after the deployment of the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system in South Korea in 2016.
That 2016 action prompted Beijing to impose widespread restrictions on Korean music, television dramas, and films, often referred to as the "Korean Wave" restrictions. While the ban was never codified in law, Chinese authorities have maintained tight controls, rarely granting approval for full-scale concerts by Korean acts.
Instead, smaller fan meetings without full live performances have occasionally been allowed under stringent conditions, as seen with SHINee's Taemin, Kang Daniel, and Mamamoo's Solar earlier this year.
Industry insiders had viewed Kep1er's Fuzhou date as a test case for a broader relaxation of those measures. The group's agency had described the event as part of a new wave of fan-focused gatherings, where artists could directly engage with local supporters without violating formal restrictions.
Despite those hopes, the postponement arrives just two weeks before the scheduled show. It follows a pattern of last-minute cancellations: in May, rookie boy band EPEX announced and then cancelled a China concert, and superstar G-Dragon scrapped a Shanghai media exhibition the same month.
Kep1er, formed through the Mnet reality show "Girls Planet 999," debuted in 2022 and quickly rose in popularity, with hits like "Up!" and "We Shine." The group has since toured Asia and performed in Japan, South Korea, and parts of Southeast Asia, building a reputation for strong vocal and dance performances. Their cancelled Fuzhou concert would have marked a significant step toward reconnecting with the lucrative Chinese market.
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