From his first debut as Marco Han in the science fiction thriller Memories of the Alhambra (2018–2019), Lee Jae Wook started gaining popularity when he plays a supporting role in the office romance Search: WWW (2019) and then followed by a big screen debut in The Battle of Jangsari (2019), Extraordinary You (2019) and melodrama When The Weather Is Fine (2020). Jae Wook played his first lead character in the romantic musical comedy Do Do Sol Sol La La Sol (2020) and quickly rose to fame as he played as bad boy Jang Uk turned superhero in the hit fantasy period drama Alchemy of Souls (2022) and its second part Alchemy of Souls: Light and Shadow (2022–2023).
I first noticed Jae Wook when he played as Seol Ji Hwan in Search WWW as he and Lee Da-hee displayed a good chemistry and their romance story is more interesting than the main lead’s story. I started watching his other drama but it was Alchemy of Soul where he really nailed it and top the Hallyu popularity charts. Through his 6 years career in the industry, he has got many nominations as best actors and won several awards. That was one hell of an achievement for a 24 years old who only started debuting in 2018. He was recently selected as one of the best actors of 2022 by industry professionals in South Korea and early this year he started to embark on his first fan meeting tour across Asia. Jae Wook first fan meeting was scheduled in Seoul in January, followed by Tokyo, Bangkok, Hongkong and Jakarta just last week. The last one will be in Manila on March 11.
What is a Fanmeet
This is the question people often asked me. Especially if they’re not into Kdrama/Kpop, the concept of Fanmeet is unheard of. Usually, Kpop idols and Kdrama artists hold fan meeting to mark their debut anniversary, Birthday or as a milestone as their career take off in the case of Lee Jae Wook. A Fan meet is a unique opportunity to see your idol/artist in real life and get to know him/her better. If you are planning for a vacation in Korea, check if there will be a fan meet during the time you’re there to feel the experience.
How to find a Fanmeet schedule and get your ticket
Since the easing of Covid restriction, Jakarta on the weekend has been flooded by all kind of concert; local and KPop and Fanmeet. If you are new to Hallyu wave like me, you need to get familiar to several promoters who usually bring Korean Group/idols/artist to Jakarta. They are namely Mecima, Ime Entertainment Group, Dyandra and Lumina. You can follow them on Instagram, Twitter and Tiktok to get the latest update on who is coming. Alternatively you can also follow Konser.id to get yourself updated.
Lee Jae Wook Fanmeet in Jakarta was arranged by Mecima and as soon as I saw the announcement in their instagram, I registered for Mecima membership. Unlike other promoters, Mecima has a membership system and their members have a priviledge when it comes to concert and fan meet. Members get special link for ticket purchase and fan benefit such as Photo group, signed posters, and front row seats in A and B. Signing up for Mecima membership is a drama itself; the system is very manual and they take a long time to respond to your email and sometimes they don’t and you had to chase them. I was lucky to get my membership on time before they started selling Lee Jae Wook’s fan meet ticket. Mecima usually sell their tickets thru their own Mecima shop and third party such as Loket.com or Tiket.com. When you buy thru their third party you will get assigned seat immediately but they won’t be in the front row even though you buy VIP ticket. you will need to buy Mecima Package ticket to get front row seat. You can also buy thru Mecima if you don’t have the membership and if you transfer fast you can get lucky and get closer row to the front. The other promoters don’t have membership so your seats will depend on how you score in the ticket war; down to your internet connectivity and your finger.
Before the Fan meet
Lee Jae Wook Fan meeting starts at 6.30pm and the venue is open from 1pm. We came around 2pm because we wanted to have ample time to take pictures at the photo zone. There were not many people when we came so we took our time to exchange our ticket to wrist band and collect our welcome kits. MCP Package got a signed poster, land yard and a photo pass. I was disappointed that we didn’t get a photo card but at the end of the show the photo card was distributed to us as a surprise.
We have bought a present for Jae Wook with a small note with our handwriting and dropped it in the Gift Box. Not all Idols/Artist open to receive gifts from Fans as carrying them back home is a hassle. Hence we were delighted when we were informed by Mecima that there will be a gift box inside for any fans who want to give him one.
As we waited we can see several fans selling paid merchandise. Actually there is a culture in Korea of giving free merchandise when you attend Hallyu events. However if you are part of the fan club (Izzimo), they will announce in advance where you can get freebies from the fellow fans. We also picked up our blue flowers from Izzimo for the photo group session.
An exciting part of attending fan meetings is the photo zone. As we came early, we take tons of photos with posters and life-sized standees of Lee Jae Wook. Do not worry if you come alone as you can always ask the other fellow fan to take photos of you and take their in return.
Can you see how short I am compared to Jae Wook life size standee? The guy is 187cm tall lol.
Dian and I were very excited as this is the first time we’re going to to have a photo group session as part of MCP Package benefit. We missed this benefit during Ji Chang Wook’s fanmeet because we were not yet Mecima member at that time. We were asked to group at 4.30pm and waited in a separate area for our photo session. The waiting time was long but the photo session itself was probably only 30 seconds. We were all split into a group of 19 and it was all down to luck whether you can have your photo taken next to the actor or not. We were not that lucky lol. Nevertheless I am excited to at least be in the same frame with Jae Wook.
What happen in a Fan meet
What to expect during a Fan Meeting? You can expect that it will be so much fun especially if the artist and their production team prepared a lot of activities and surprises for the fans. Lee Jae Wook Fan Meeting consist of 2 parts.
First Part
Jae Wook kicked of by serenading his fan with singing Paul Kim’s song of Every Day Every Moment and greeted his fans. Then we have a Q&A session guided by Indra Herlambang as the MC. There is a list of funny questions Jae Wook has to answer such as “Do you prefer your girlfriend have 30 male friends or has 1 ex she cannot forget” or do you prefer “someone wiped your girlfriend’s lip or your girlfriend wipe out someone’s lip”. It was really fun watching Jae Wook’s reaction and expression. And if you sit in the front row you get the opportunity to interact with Jae Wook and sometimes eye contact as he asked questions.
Prior to the fan meet the production team has asked the fans to pick 3 favourite scene from Alchemy of Soul season 2 and submit a letter on what makes you fall in love with Jae Wook. We got to watch our top 3 scene together with Jae Wook himself and seeing his reaction is priceless. We could tell Jae Wook get really embarrassed when he had to watch her kissing scene with Go Youn Jung with us on a big screen lol. Then we have MCs reading top 3 letters which Production Team has chosen to Jae Wook and these 3 lucky winners get a special prize. You can’t help feeling warmth seeing Jae Wook’s gestures, laugh and reactions and scream with the rest of the hall when his jacket get slightly opened.
Second Part
Our MC has said we will have a surprise on the second part but still everybody’s heart was pounded when suddenly Jae Wook appeared from the back and walking so close with everybody. In this second part we had interactive game with everyone on the hall. We had to answer list of questions about Jae Wook and the remaining 5 winners who answer all the questions correctly get a special prize. Then we also have lots of lottery where Jae Wook pick the names from the box. Seeing him shaking the box and picking up names is already entertaining lol. There are lots of prizes given from signed polaroid, the special 4 leaves clove, Alchemy of Soul Soundtrack and Jae Wook’s own belonging (his supreme cap).
Jae Wook ended Part 2 by singing Hyukoh’s Tomboy song. And as he sang he was caught by suprise with the fanchat his fan base in Indonesia (Izzimo) has prepared. It was a lovely moment where we can see how he feels touched with the surprise. Izzimo has also prepared a special video and gift to the actor which was nicely played on the screen.
After the song, Jae Wook threw more surprises gifts to lucky fans, give his farewell speech with a promise to come back again and us screaming I love you lol, took a selfie together and a chance for us to take his pictures. He walked from one end to another to ensure we all can take a picture of him.
Our fan meet ends with a Hi Bye session where we made one line queue to exit where Jae Wook was waiting at the exit door and waved to us. It was last opportunity to make eye contact with the actor and said our goodbye.
So the last question is “Is it worth it”? A big YES for me and if you can, try to get the front row seat for best interaction. I get to go home with a big smile on my face and tons of pictures and videos on my mobile phone as a token for memory.
Jae Wook will finish his Asia fan Meeting tour in Manila on March 11 and after that he will start shooting for new drama. I read that he will make special appearances on the upcoming drama “Death’s Game” which will feature Seo In Guk, Park So Dam, and Go Yoon Jung as main leads. I am sure fans will be excited to see him and Yoong Jung on the same screen albeit only for special appearance.
If you’re a Jae Wook fangirl like me l, I hope you enjoy our story 😉
