Hyundai Card CEO regrets not bringing Taylor Swift’s ‘Eras Tour’ to Korea

Hyundai Card CEO and vice chairman Chung Tae-young publicly shared his bitterness over not bringing Taylor Swift‘s “The Eras Tour” to Korea.

“I should’ve brought the concert to Korea and heard ‘Hello, Seoul’ instead of ‘Hello, Tokyo,’” Chung wrote in an Instagram post after he attended Swift’s concert in Tokyo, Japan.

Chung is known to be an orchestrator of bringing pop stars’ world tours to Korea as a part of the card company’s Culture Project, labeling it as “Hyundai Card Super Concert.” The concert series has starred Beyonce, Bruno Mars, Coldplay, Lady Gaga and Paul McCartney, among other A-listers.

“Foreign governments and heads of state implored Swift to include their countries and cities for the international leg of the concert. However, our company could not pitch the idea of hosting her tour nor ask her because there is no massive stadium for concerts in the country,” Chung said.

Chilean President Gabriel Boric openly asked Swift to include the country in the Latin American tour schedules last June via a YouTube video. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invited Swift on Twitter, now called X, last July.

Her next stop is Australia. She will perform at Melbourne Cricket Ground, which accommodates between 90,000 and 100,000 fans, and Accor Stadium in Sydney which can house over 80,000 fans.

Japan and Singapore are the only Asian stops in The Eras Tour.

Singapore’s venue — National Stadium — can hold 55,000 people. Swift will perform six shows in Singapore between March 2 and 9.

Korea’s entertainment industry said that the lack of a proper venue might be a reason why Swift skipped Korea. British singer Ed Sheeran and rock band Coldplay — who have world tours this year — also left out Seoul for their international shows, yet they have performed in other Asian cities.

Jamsil Olympic Stadium, with a capacity of 45,000, is currently under renovation. Thus, the facility will not be available for any concerts until 2026.

Gocheok Skydome has a seating capacity of 25,000. However, it is also under refurbishment for the MLB’s Seoul Series scheduled for late March.

Seoul World Cup Stadium, which seats about 66,700 people, maintains strict rules about using the venue for non-athletic purposes due to soccer field maintenance.

U.S. financial authorities last year credited Swift with boosting regional economies during her U.S. leg of The Eras Tour, calling it “Swiftonomics.”

A U.S.-based research firm, QuestionPro, estimated that her tour in the United States created consumer spending of over $5 billion.

According to The Japan Times report on Feb. 8, Swift’s concert in Tokyo would generate 34.1 billion yen ($226 million) worth of economic impact.

The first and last time Taylor performed in Korea was in February 2011 at the Olympic Gymnastics Arena in southern Seoul during the world tour for her third album “Speak Now” (2010).

BY LEE SOO-JUNG, HYEON YE-SEUL [lee.soojung1@joongang.co.kr]