SBS’s long-running variety show Running Man has unexpectedly canceled its upcoming fan meeting in Vietnam, just 10 days before the event was scheduled to take place.

According to an exclusive report published on June 30, the fan meeting, which was set for July 4 at Saigon Riverside Park in Ho Chi Minh City, will no longer be held.

The event was expected to feature the full current cast of Running Man, including Yoo Jae-suk, Ji Suk-jin, Kim Jong-kook, Haha, Song Ji-hyo, Yang Se-chan and Ji Ye-eun. The gathering was particularly anticipated because it would have marked Ji Ye-eun’s first overseas fan meeting since officially joining the show.

According to the report, organizers informed those involved that the cancellation was due to “force majeure” (“unavoidable circumstances”). However, sources familiar with the situation claimed that ticket sales were significantly lower than expected, leading organizers to ultimately cancel the event. No official statement has been released detailing the specific circumstances behind the cancellation.

Running Man pioneered overseas variety show fan meetings when it held its first international event in Hong Kong’s AsiaWorld-Expo in 2013. Since then, the cast has met fans across Asia, including in Hong Kong, Mainland China, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan, Macau and Vietnam. The program also held online fan meetings during the COVID-19 pandemic before resuming overseas events in the Philippines in 2023.

The canceled Ho Chi Minh City event would have marked the cast’s second visit to Vietnam following their previous fan meeting in 2019, ending a seven-year wait for Vietnamese fans. Instead, organizers indicated that the cast hopes to return at a later date.

The cancellation comes amid a noticeable rise in overseas fan meetings by Korean artists being called off. Industry observers have pointed to high ticket prices as one of the key reasons behind weaker-than-expected sales in several international markets, resulting in organizers canceling events before their scheduled dates.

While Running Man remains one of Korea’s most recognizable entertainment brands abroad, the latest cancellation highlights the increasing challenges of staging large-scale overseas fan events in today’s market.

Sources: 네이트 뉴스