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 They are some of the
135,000-member fan club of top male South Korean
singer Lim Young-woong, gathering to watch "Mr
Trot: The Movie", a movie featuring him and
other singers who perform the country's oldest
form of popular music, commonly called trot.
Lim's fan club is called "Age of Hero", after
the singer's name which means hero in Korean.
Once ridiculed as music for grannies, trot is
making a comeback and many South Koreans, mostly
in their 40s and above, are cheering an
alternative to K-pop idol music in one of the
world's fastest ageing societies.
K-pop is a multi-billion-dollar global music
industry with bubbly bands like BTS and
BLACKPINK enjoying huge fan bases outside South
Korea.
But at home, trot signers performing old ballads
have seen the biggest increase in fans,
according to top portal website Daum that
analyses growth rates of fan clubs and their
social media activities.
"Our country is ageing, but it is hard to find
songs that bring emotional empathy for the
elderly population because the music is too
idol-oriented" said Park Woo-jung, 54, a member
of Age of Hero.
"But listening to Lim Young-woong, I find his
voice beautiful and comforting," said Park,
wearing the sky-blue Hero mask. Lim's new single
topped online music charts earlier this month.
Although considered uncool by youngsters, trot
music has a broad national following with a
storied history of success going back before the
birth of modern K-pop. The music’s melancholic
lyrics of unrequited love or yearning played to
a repetitive beat has resonated with babyboomers
and retirees, the generation that helped build
Asia’s fourth-largest economy.
MONEY AND TIME
Today, fans of the genre have become an economic
force to reckon with and many use their
unlimited data plans to plug into streaming
sites or vote for their favourite stars at
awards, embracing ways of K-pop followers.
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 "Fandom of the middle-age and
elderly is unconditional," said Jung Duk Hyun, a
pop culture columnist. "They have time to listen
all day. They have money, and think their stars
energize their life, then aggressively invest by
buying and clicking."
When Lim of Mr. Trot became the model for a
Ssangyong Motor SUV this year, sales surged 63%
in May and 98% in June compared to the vehicle's
monthly average sales between January and April
this year, the carmaker said.
Song Jong-choon is a fan of trot singer Song Ga-in whose
songs, he says, "heal his broken soul,"
especially one about lost hometowns that remind
him of the countryside home he left. He doesn't
hesitate a moment to support her career.
"We are old, and many of us are in 50s who have
economic power, so normally don't mind the
spending. But, if you are a (K-pop) idol fan,
you have to do a part-time job to buy a concert
ticket."
Song is head of Song Ga-in's fan club "AGAIN"
with 57,000 members and six regional chapters.
The club has its own guide book to show how to
subscribe to streaming sites, and click likes
for her music videos.
The living room of his apartment is decorated
with giant photos of the singer and merchandise
in her signature pink ranging from aprons to
cushions with the singer's pictures.
Trot is unlikely to reach the global success of
K-pop largely because of the language barrier,
but fans believe their fandom as something
special, treating their stars as if they are
their own children.
"BTS has (its fanclub) ARMY but we are Mommies,"
said Hwang Eun-jeong, a 52-year-old housewife
and a member of Lim Young-woong's fan club.
(Reporting by Ju-min Park; Editing by Jack Kim
and Raju Gopalakrishnan)
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