ANWAR WINS HEARTS OF G-DRAGON FANS, SHARES K-POP SUPERSTAR’S PERFORMANCE ON SOCIAL MEDIA

From Nor Baizura Basri

GYEONGJU (South Korea), Nov 1 (Bernama) -- Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s lighthearted social media post about G-Dragon’s performance at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders’ dinner last night has captured the hearts of many Malaysian fans of the K-pop star.

Earlier, the prime minister shared a 36-second clip of G-Dragon performing his song “Drama” on his official X, Instagram, and Facebook accounts. “Many K-pop fans in Malaysia asked me to share G-Dragon’s performance tonight. So I’m sharing a short clip of his performance so that I don’t disappoint the fans,” he wrote in his post on X.

Since being uploaded seven hours ago, the video has garnered 520,000 views, 7,815 likes, 3,674 reposts, and 1,105 quotes.

Adding to the amusement, some of G-Dragon’s fans - known as “VIPs” - cheekily asked Anwar to “whisper” to the K-pop icon to hold a BigBang reunion concert in Malaysia next year to mark the group’s 20th anniversary - not just for one day, but for three consecutive days.

At the APEC Leaders’ dinner event, G-Dragon, whose real name is Kwon Ji-Yong and who also serves as an APEC ambassador, performed another song titled “Power.”

Besides G-Dragon’s performance, the APEC leaders were also treated to a cultural showcase, including a traditional flute performance by Kim Ki-yeop, which transported the audience “back” to the ancient city of Gyeongju.

The city, once the capital of the Silla Kingdom that ruled most of the Korean Peninsula for nearly a thousand years, is known as South Korea’s fifth-largest city and often called a “museum without walls.”

This historically rich city, home to several UNESCO World Heritage sites, was chosen as the host venue for this year’s APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting (AELM) , which began yesterday.

-- BERNAMA