K-pop band TWICE wins top prize at Asia Artist Awards in Hanoi

At the event on Tuesday night, the grand prizes for Artist of the Year went to girl band TWICE, for Song of the Year to girl band Red Velvet’s "Umpah Umpah", for Performance of the Year to boy band GOT7, for Album of the Year to boy band SEVENTEEN’s "An Ode", and for Actor of the Year to Jang Dong Gun.

The Best Vietnamese artist award went to actress Bao Thanh, actor Quoc Truong and singer Bich Phuong. The former two are renowned for their performance in a drama series on national television.

But Vietnamese fans were disappointed and annoyed. For one, the event did not have a translator to interpret what the Korean host was saying, and was shown on subscription TV without subtitles. Many people without subscriptions had to watch poor-quality streaming on the Internet.

Before the show, the red carpet session, which was scheduled to start at 5 p.m., was delayed until 6.40 p.m., further irritating many fans.

This was the first time the awards ceremony was held in Vietnam since it began in 2016.

A survey by HCMC-based market research firm Q&Me found that 51 percent of Vietnamese like Korean pop music and 68 percent like South Korean TV series.

The Korean Wave started to develop in some Asian countries including Vietnam in the 2000s, and has strengthened since.