K-Pop stars Girls’ Generation, Bangtan Boys headline KCON 2014

Last year, 20,000 fans attended two days of K-Pop concerts, panels and exhibits at the third annual KCON, and second in downtown L.A.. This year’s crowds should get even bigger.

The event, produced by the South Korean media giant CJ E&M and the cable network MNET, has booked Girls’ Generation, one of K-Pop’s marquee acts, as this year’s headliner. The group’s delightfully zany videos for tracks including “I Got a Boy” recently passed a billion views on YouTube, and they’ve released albums in the U.S. for Interscope Records.

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FOR THE RECORD

May 22, 9:29 a.m..: An earlier version of this post said 2014 is the second KCON. It is the second KCON held in downtown Los Angeles.

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The rap group Bangtan Boys is also booked as a top-billed act [watch several members of the group tackle “School of Tears,” an edit of Kendrick Lamar’s “Swimming Pools (Drank)”]. This year’s event will feature two full nights of concerts, doubling last year’s performances.

The conference will run Aug. 9-10 at a still to-be-determined downtown L.A. venue. The event has become a popular and eclectic hub for K-pop fans in L.A.

Ted Kim, president and chief executive of MNet America, told The Times last year, “When we threw the gates open last year, one of the most inspiring things was seeing the diversity of the audience. There was every ethnicity, and I’d say Koreans were probably not the majority.”