LE SSERAFIM has been at the center of popular online discourse in South Korea recently.

On May 15, a netizen posted multiple pictures taken at a LE SSERAFIM concert, pointing out that a large section of the audience consisted of middle-aged men or Ahjussis.

The OP (original poster) also claimed that in many other fan-uploaded pictures, the concert venue seemed to be overwhelmingly filled by middle-aged Korean men.

Netizens also mostly agreed with this observation, some even pointing out that LE SSERAFIM’s concert ticketing data also supports the claim.

• “They have a lot of male fans, for sure. Usually, for a girl group with a girl crush concept, you’d expect female fans to be more attracted. But Bang Si Hyuk’s concepts, the ambiguously-sloppy for-ahjussi-by-ahjussi vibes, seem to attract old men just like him.”
• “It looks like Bang’s vibe is right up the alley for old men.”
• “I can smell the picture just by looking at it… If I were a female idol, I would hate it so much. Sakura came to Korea to avoid the old men demographic, but they followed her without taking the hint.”
• “If you look at the demographic for ticket sales, 70% was purchased by men. Men in their 30-40s make up the 70%.”
• “I mean, I can see why the men are obsessed.”

The observation made by netizens seems to match up somewhat with the latest updated data on LE SSERAFIM’s concert audience demographic. Recently, it was reported that for the 2024 LE SSERAFIM FEARADA S/S Fan Meeting, the overwhelming majority of ticket buyers were male (67%) compared to female (33%), making a difference of 34%. In terms of age, the breakdown showed 22.3% of ticket-buyers were in their 30s, while 12.6% were in their 40s. You can read more about this analysis here.

Source: Nate Pann