Actors Yim Siwan and Lee Byung-hun will be making special appearances at KCON LA 2025.
Celebrated Korean actors and Squid Game stars Lee Byung-hun and Yim Siwan are scheduled to appear at KCON LA 2025, which will take place from August 1-3 at the Los Angeles Convention Center and Crypto.com Arena. Organized by leading South Korean entertainment company CJ ENM, KCON LA is the world’s largest convention and music festival dedicated to celebrating K-pop and Korean culture.
Lee, a veteran actor who’s starred in some of the most iconic Korean films and TV shows over the past three decades, is perhaps best known internationally for playing the Front Man in Squid Game. He also voiced the evil demon lord Gwi-Ma in KPop Demon Hunters and will be starring in Park Chan-wook’s upcoming film No Other Choice.
Fellow Squid Game star Yim first debuted as a member of the K-pop boy band ZE:A before transitioning to acting and starring in films and K-dramas like Misaeng: Incomplete Life and Run On.
At KCON LA 2025, both Lee and Yim will appear onstage during M COUNTDOWN—KCON’s main show at Crypto.com Arena—on Friday, August 1st. That same day, Yim is also expected to stop by the “K-content by CJ ENM” exhibition zone on the festival grounds inside the LA Convention Center. “K-content by CJ ENM” will be a space where attendees can explore exhibits showcasing the latest Korean films and K-dramas, like Law and the City and the upcoming thriller Dear X.
Ahead of KCON, Yim will also take part in “K-Culture Night at the Academy Museum with KCON” on July 31st, a special cultural event held at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures to celebrate KCON’s 13th anniversary and the growing global reach of K-content. The event sold out within two hours of its announcement, making it the fastest event to sell out in the Academy Museum’s history.
K-Culture Night will be hosted by Korean American singer and multi-hyphenate Eric Nam and will feature performances by dancer and choreographer Choi Ho-jong, rapper and former The Seasons host Lee Young-ji, K-pop boy band P1Harmony and Japanese girl group IS:SUE. In a special conversation, Yim will be discussing his filmography and career path as a K-pop idol-turned-actor.
Presented by CJ ENM and the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, K-Culture Night is part of the two companies’ three-year partnership to promote Asian cinema and talent in Hollywood. Their first joint project came in March of this year with the opening of Director’s Inspiration: Bong Joon Ho, a museum exhibition and film screening series dedicated to the Parasite director’s works.
Since launching in the U.S. in 2012, KCON has been held in Japan, Hong Kong, Germany, United Arab Emirates, France, Mexico, Australia, Thailand and Saudi Arabia. This year KCON LA, its flagship event, will once again connect K-culture fans with some of the hottest stars in K-entertainment for three days of concerts, interactive fan experiences and other exciting activities. Artists featured in this year’s lineup include aespa, ALLDAY PROJECT, Cravity, Hwasa, i-dle, ifeye, IVE, Jackson Wang, MEOVV, MONSTA X, NCT 127, RIIZE, Roy Kim, ZEROBASEONE and more.
For those who cannot attend KCON LA 2025 in person, Amazon Music will be exclusively livestreaming some of the festival’s performances on the Amazon Music channel on Twitch and Prime Video.
More info about KCON LA 2025 can be found on KCON USA’s official website.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/reginakim/2025/07/23/kcon-la-2025-adds-squid-game-stars-lee-byung-hun-yim-siwan-to-lineup/