AKMU's 176,000-Won VIP Seats Reportedly Had Fans Staring at Heads in Gangneung

AKMU's top-tier VIP seats cost 176,000 won, 22,000 won more than the restricted-view section, and some fans at the Gangneung show say they saw neither the stage nor the screens. The duo, Lee Chan-hyuk and Lee Su-hyun, played the Gangneung Speed Skating Oval on the 7th as part of their tour 2026 AKMU Concert: Paradise of Rumors.

The complaints centered on the floor VIP section, where chairs were set directly on the arena floor with no height difference between rows. Once the people in front stood up, fans say, even the video screens were blocked.

One attendee posted a photo from Floor 6 captioned with a joke about "experiencing" the restricted-view seat. The image shows rows of heads stacked all the way to the stage. Another fan wrote that it felt like paying extra to land in a restricted-view seat. A third, who said they travelled from Seoul with a family of four on VIP tickets, described going home disappointed after seeing "17만 원짜리 뒤통수" only, meaning roughly 170,000 won worth of the backs of other people's heads.

The price gap that made it sting

Gangneung ticket prices ran 176,000 won for VIP, 165,000 won for R and table seats, and 154,000 won for restricted view. That puts the best-priced seat above the one explicitly labeled as compromised, which is the part fans keep returning to.

A fan in Floor Zone 4 asked whether the section was really VIP, said the stage was invisible and that the screen vanished whenever people stood. They also called the sound disappointing and compared the flat seating to Seoul's crowded Line 9 subway. Another attendee said some people gave up and left within an hour of the start. Some posts have asked for refunds.

In fairness, the booking page did warn buyers. It stated that floor seats would sit on level ground and that sightlines could be blocked depending on audience height. Whether the experience matched the price of the top tier is a separate question.

Who owns the layout problem

The tour has otherwise drawn praise. The Seoul shows were well received for staging and production, and Lee Chan-hyuk had appeared on broadcast showing himself attending planning meetings and checking props and sets closely. That raised expectations, which is partly why fans say missing the stage hurt.

Venue layout, sound and on-site operations are hard to pin on the artists alone. The open question is whether the organizers and production team checked how the venue's structure would affect sightlines, and whether stage and screen placement was designed with each zone in mind.

The worry has spread to ticket holders for later dates, some of whom fear similar problems and want viewing conditions improved. The tour opened on the 9th to 11th of last month at KSPO DOME in Seoul. Remaining stops are Daegu on the 21st and 22nd, Daejeon on December 5th and 6th, Busan on the 19th and 20th, and Gwangju on the 25th. An encore at KINTEX in Goyang follows on January 2 and 3.