The group BLACKPINK (Jisoo, Jennie, Rosé, Lisa) is set to host a standalone concert in Vietnam as planned.

According to a local Vietnamese report by VietnamNet on July 25 (local time), the Hanoi People's Committee in Vietnam has decided to permit BLACKPINK's local performance.

BLACKPINK is scheduled to host a standalone concert on July 29 and 30 at the Hanoi National Stadium, as part of their world tour 'BORN PINK'. The concert expects to draw a crowd exceeding 30,000 people per performance.

The decision to hold the concert sparked controversy over the so-called nine-dash line issue. The issue arose due to the fact that the South China Sea map, drawn with the nine-dash line, is featured on BLACKPINK tour organizer iME's official website, which has been a hot topic on social media.

The South China Sea is a region where six Southeast Asian countries including Vietnam, China, and the Philippines are engaged in territorial disputes. This key maritime route is surrounded by the South China coast, the Philippines, Indochinese Peninsula, and Borneo, and is known to be a region rich in resources such as oil and natural gas.

China has drawn a U-shaped nine-dash line in the South China Sea region, claiming about 90% of the area as their territory. The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) has recently ruled that China's claims have no legal basis under international law.

In response, Vietnam's Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism began an investigation into the iME's official website. iME has since removed the controversial map image amid the uproar.

Previously, Vietnam imposed local screening and broadcast bans on the U.S. movie 'Barbie' and the Chinese drama 'Flight to You', both of which featured maps including the nine-dash line.

Meanwhile, BLACKPINK is conducting the largest scale world tour for a K-pop girl group, mobilizing approximately 1.5 million people. On July 15, they held an encore performance at Stade de France in Paris, setting a new record as the first K-pop female artists to perform in a European stadium.

They are set to move on to various locations in the United States, including New Jersey, Las Vegas, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, in August.

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