By Jae-Ha Kim
Kocowa.com
October 10, 2019
One of the minor complaints that international fans have is they don’t like waiting to see their favorite Korean shows. Seeing overseas content in real-time can be a rarity for any regular series, regardless of what country it originates.
But KOCOWA has a new feature to unveil and it should make international K-pop fans very happy. Starting on Friday, October 11, subscribers can start enjoying K-pop LIVE. What’s this, you ask? It’s a perk for subscribers so that viewers can watch three of South Korea’s most popular music shows (“Music Bank K-Chart,” “Show! Music Core” and “SBS Inkigayo“) at the exact same time as their Korean counterparts in Korea!
And if you find international time zones confusing to keep track of, no worries. KOCOWA offers a 24-hour countdown that automatically adjusts to each subscriber’s time zone.
K-pop LIVE is available for both the app and on the web, but it’s an exclusive feature that’s only available to subscribers. Be sure to bookmark the LIVE page to keep tabs on these music programs!
AIRING IN KOREA: Fridays: 5 p.m. KST on KBS
This weekend’s guests: It’s a surprise.
This entertainment show has had quite a few hosts who have gone onto superstardom: Park Bo-Gum, Rain, Song Hye-Kyo, Park Seo-Joon and Song Joong-Ki. And not for nothing, but BTS’ Jin was on point when he appeared on the show as a special MC, alongside LABOUM’s Solbin.
AIRING IN KOREA: Saturdays: 3:30 p.m. KST on MBC
This weekend’s guests: Stray Kids, Twice, Chen
This long-running music series debuted 19 years ago. Hosts have included some of Korea’s most talented young idols/actors, such as SF9‘s Chani, Gugudan‘s Mina and Stray Kids‘ Hyunjin. The program shares elements of a K-pop concert along with that of a contest, where viewers get to vote on their Top 3 songs of the evening.
AIRING IN KOREA: Sundays: 3:50 p.m. KST on SBS
This weekend’s guests: Twice, N.Flying, NCT Dream, Chungha, ASTRO, Chen
Did you know that in Hangul, inki (인기) means popularity? The transliteration of Inkigayo means popular music, which is what this serves serves up weekly. As you can see from this Sunday’s lineup, it offers performances by some of Korea’s hottest acts. Some of the hosts have included Monsta X‘s Minhyuk, NCT 127‘s Jaehyun and “My Father is Strange” actress Lee Na-Eun.
I can only think of two cons to this perk at this point. Subtitles won’t be added until after it streams LIVE. But music is a universal language, so that’s not a dealbreaker. The other is that you may need to be a nightowl to watch some of these shows, depending on where you live. For instance, in order for me to watch “Music Bank K-Chart” — which airs at 5 p.m. Friday evenings in South Korea — I would have to stay up (or wake up, depending on your point of view) at 3 a.m. that day in Chicago.
So what do you think? Are you excited about this perk? Will you be watching K-pop LIVE?
Be sure to follow @GoAwayWithJae, where I tweet about all things Korean.🇰🇷
