The power of ‘heung’ that drives K-pop and Korean professional baseball, which even made Jensen Huang dance

On the 7th, the Jamsil Baseball Stadium scoreboard. Jensen Huang taking part in Dance Time

A man who danced to ‘APT.’ by Rose (ROSÉ) appeared at Jamsil Baseball Stadium.

He won the favor of Koreans by saying, “Nothing is better than chimaek,” and he also revealed his fandom by praising Hwasa (HWASA) as “a singer with excellent vocal ability and an outstanding dancer.” His name is Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of NVIDIA.

After finishing the ceremonial first pitch, he watched the game from the stands. During the inning break, he appeared during the scoreboard Dance Time, hesitated briefly, then stood up and moved to the OST ‘Golden’ from ‘K-pop Demon Hunters (KPop Demon Hunters)’. At that moment, cheers erupted from the stands, rivaling those for an idol.

Watching that scene, I had this thought. What made ‘Jensen Huang’ dance?

On reflection, Korean professional baseball is special. While most sports stop at spectating, Korean baseball draws spectators in as participants.

They sing fight songs, chant the names of players, and follow the moves of cheerleaders. Even first-time visitors to the ballpark find themselves in the rhythm after a few innings. This is also why the KBO has recently emerged as new tourism content among foreign tourists.

The way K-pop has captivated the world is no different. In the past, performances separated artists on stage from audiences in the seats. But K-pop today is different. Fans follow dance challenges, learn fanchants, film videos, and share them on social media, becoming part of the performance.

Global business leaders, overseas tourists, and first-time visitors to the ballpark alike naturally get swept up in heung within the Korean cheering culture.

We often speak of Korean sentiment in terms of han and heung. Among these, the dictionary meaning of heung is ‘the feeling that brings about fun or joy’. K-pop venues and the cheering sections of Korean professional baseball may be the places where that heung is most vividly alive. For each player, fans sing the distinctive fight song together and move their bodies in the same motions. Fans proudly use the moniker ‘tenth batter’ and take pride in becoming part of the game.

It is the same at K-pop concerts. Fans address one another by each group fandom name and take part in the stage through fanchants and mass sing-alongs. Like BTS ‘ARMY’, SEVENTEEN ‘CARAT’, and IVE ‘DIVE’, a fandom becomes not a mere audience but a community. If the artist leads the show, the fans complete the stage.

If K-pop is a performance that blends song and dance, the KBO cheering culture likewise is close to a performance that blends fight songs and choreographed moves. Tens of thousands of fans sing together and move together. And at some point they become part of the game and part of the stage, in which respect the two cultures are strikingly alike.

Perhaps it was precisely the heung of the Republic of Korea that made Jensen Huang stand up.

At least to this writer, Jensen Huang that day looked like one of the tens of thousands of participants who enjoyed Korea heung together.