Why KCON LA Draws the Same Complaints Every Year

Every August, KCON LA fills the Los Angeles Convention Center, and every August, a version of the same complaint trends online. In 2023 it was fans discovering plexiglass where they expected a handshake. In 2025 it was rookie idols reportedly paying six figures in won just to get stage time. In 2026 it was a check-in line that took two to three hours before anyone got inside.

These look like separate stories. They are not. Each traces back to the same structural fact: KCON is not a fan convention that happens to feature K-pop. It is a promotional platform that CJ ENM sells to agencies and fans at the same time, and the two sides of that sale keep colliding.

A two-to-three-hour line before the doors even open

At KCON LA 2026, attendees who had already paid for premium tickets reported waiting two to three hours just to check in, standing in direct sun with too few booths and no early check-in option, according to a detailed recap by longtime attendee Nick at The Bias List.

He noted the venue's South Hall side has produced this kind of breakdown before, and this was his tenth consecutive year attending, giving him a direct point of comparison.

The 2026 event also drew complaints that headliner sets advertised as one hour ran closer to 35 to 45 minutes, and that a listed performer, Anderson .Paak, never appeared, with no explanation given.

Hi-touch or hi-wave, the ticket didn't say which

The most-cited KCON scandal is still 2023's hi-touch bait-and-switch. Hi-touch is a paid meet-and-greet format where a fan briefly shakes hands or hugs an idol while walking past a line of them; hi-wave is the same walk-past format but with a plexiglass barrier and no physical contact, introduced during the pandemic.

KCON LA 2023 sold its meet-and-greet tickets specifically as hi-touch, after 2022's had been openly labeled hi-wave for COVID reasons. Attendees who paid for the upgrade found the barrier back in place anyway, with no notice given beforehand, according to Koreaboo's reporting on the fan backlash.

One attendee's post, quoted by Koreaboo, captured the frustration directly: "so kcon la said hi touch. not hi wave, not walk by. they said hi TOUCH. and that's what they said when selling tickets." Another called it "incredibly deceitful to charge people $100 per artist for the hi-touch experience but then not give any notice."

Even the wave itself got rushed

The format didn't stabilize after 2023. At KCON Japan 2025, fans who paid a $61 add-on on top of tickets running up to $109 reported staff physically pushing them from behind during the hi-wave walk, turning what was meant to be a moment of eye contact into something closer to a jog past the stage.

Viral clips showed idol Gunwook of ZEROBASEONE looking visibly startled as fans hurried past him, a reaction that mirrored what fans themselves were saying about the segment.

$120 a line, and staff grabbing fans to keep it moving

KCON LA had its own version of the same problem a year earlier. At the 2024 event, where hi-wave tickets cost $120 per artist on top of general admission, multiple attendees said staff grabbed them by the waist to push them along the line during hi-wave sessions with BOYNEXTDOOR and ZEROBASEONE.

One fan who posted video of the incident wrote: "do not put ur hands around my waist to grab me during a meet and greet." Fans argued that if the schedule was too tight to let each person through respectfully, KCON should have capped ticket sales rather than having staff physically hurry people. KCON LA organizers had not responded publicly by the time the event ended.

2026's fix: fold the perk into the most expensive ticket

For 2026, KCON LA restructured the ticket tiers instead of the format. Standalone hi-wave engagement tickets, which in 2025 let a fan pay only for the specific artists they wanted to see, disappeared. Hi-wave access was folded exclusively into the 1Day VIP Premium All Access tier, KCON's single most expensive pass, according to a breakdown by Ellis at Selective Hearing.

That left two similarly named all-access tiers on sale at once: a roughly $450 1Day Premium pass that mirrored 2025's offering, and the new VIP Premium tier that bundled in hi-wave. Fans reported the naming alone caused confusion about what each pass actually unlocked, and total costs across a multi-day trip could reportedly exceed $2,000.

The other side of the stage: rookies who pay to perform

The complaint that broke through hardest in 2025 didn't come from fans at all. It came from inside the agencies.

KCON LA 2025's X-Stage, billed as a showcase for rising talent, reportedly required rookie groups' agencies to pay a participation fee just to appear, according to South Korean outlet My Daily and confirmed to Allkpop by an unnamed industry official: "It is true that rookie groups paid a participation fee for the X-Stage this year. The concept of KCON being a 'privilege' has led to this situation."

The reported costs were not small. For a touring party of about 20 people, members plus staff, agencies said they spent close to 100 million won, roughly $71,900 to $76,000, according to Kbizoom's reporting. That figure covered:

• Airfare and hotel for the full team
• Car rentals on the ground
• Meals, which agencies say were not provided on-site

One agency representative told Kbizoom: "We expected to pay for flights and lodging. But when we landed, we realized meals weren't covered and we had to rent our own cars. It was shocking." No appearance fee was paid to the rookie acts in return.

Why even the main stage doesn't fully cover its own artists

Acts booked for the M Countdown main stage fared somewhat better; CJ ENM covered their flights and accommodation. But reporting indicates some still received no appearance fee, and styling and makeup staff travel costs stayed with the agency regardless of which stage a group performed on.

CJ ENM's defense, given to Allkpop, framed the arrangement as opportunity rather than exploitation: exposure to affiliates from the American music industry, a global livestream audience, and the fact that many teams were not able to secure a spot on the stage despite their willingness to pay.

Why smaller agencies keep saying yes anyway

To an international reader, paying to work sounds like an easy no. Inside the K-pop agency system, it usually isn't. Agencies front the multi-year cost of training, housing, and debuting a group, then recoup that investment from the group's future earnings, which means a new act is already in debt to its own company before its first paid gig.

Against that backdrop, a chance to perform in front of American industry contacts and a global stream reads less like a bonus and more like a required marketing line item, even at a loss. Critics online called the arrangement a debt trap sold as a dream; others countered that no one was forced, noting the X-Stage slots were competitive precisely because so many smaller agencies wanted in.

What KCON has actually changed, and what it hasn't

Comparing the years shows KCON adjusting the visible mechanics: swapping hi-touch for hi-wave, then bundling hi-wave into a pricier tier, then tightening security screening in 2026. The two underlying tensions stay in place regardless: fans paying premium prices for a fan-facing perk that keeps shrinking, and rookie agencies subsidizing their own promotion on a platform CJ ENM controls.

Neither CJ ENM nor KCON USA has published a public account of how X-Stage participation fees are set or whether they will continue at future events, and no comparable change to fan-tier pricing has been announced beyond 2026.

KCON's recurring complaints, year by year

Frequently asked

What is the difference between hi-touch and hi-wave at KCON?

Hi-touch is a paid meet-and-greet where a fan briefly shakes hands or hugs an idol while walking past; hi-wave is the same walk-past format but with a plexiglass barrier and no physical contact.

Why did rookie K-pop groups pay to perform at KCON LA?

KCON LA 2025's X-Stage reportedly required agencies to pay a participation fee just to appear, with agencies spending close to 100 million won (about $71,900 to $76,000) on flights, hotels, cars, and meals, and no appearance fee paid to the acts.

How long was the check-in line at KCON LA 2026?

Attendees who had already paid for premium tickets reported waiting two to three hours just to check in, standing in direct sun with too few booths and no early check-in option.