20,000 Audience Members Gather for Rain's Free Concert

Rain (real name Jeong Ji Hoon, 29) gave a shout during his last concert before he joins the military -- held on Youngdong street in Samsungdong on October 9 -- saying, "Life is like a highway, and you have to stop by the resting area".

Gangnam District Office hosted the "Gangnam Hallyu Festival" which was held on Youngdong street by blocking seven lanes out of a total of 14 lanes, and singer Rain made a grand finale at the festival, which was his last concert before he joins the military. A total of 20,000 audience members gathered (estimated by Gangnam District Office) for Rain's last free concert entitled "Last of the Best". A total of 80 traffic policemen and 90 taxi drivers attended to guide cars to prevent traffic congestion, and a total of 150 policemen and a first-aid team were dispatched to the venue in order to be prepared for any emergency situation. Star swimmer Park Tae Hwan, the members of MBLAQ, and the cast members of the movie "Soar into the Sun" (in which Rain appears) including Yoo Joon-sang, Kim Sung-soo, Jeong Seok-won, and Lee Ha-na attended as part of the audience. And many fans from Asian countries such as Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, and China came to watch his last performance. As his showcase was broadcast through a huge LED panel on the stage and a huge electronic display on the building, many people who were passing by the venue while taking a bus or a car could not take their eyes off his appearance on the screen.

In addition, he sang both emotional songs such as "Love Song" and "Love Story" and cheerful songs such as "Seoul Women" while playing the tambourine. Whenever he exposed his upper body muscles and presented sexy dance performances with female dancers, the audience shouted with joy and tried to take pictures using their mobile phones and cameras. Rain said, "Time has flown too fast, and it has already been ten years since I debuted. There were many things happened over the past ten years, and I basically think that life is like a highway. Sometimes a person on the lane next to me can go faster than me, but it will cause an accident if I try to overtake that car. Please do not feel frustrated and sad even though your prime time comes late. Now I am going to take a rest at a resting area [the military], and I think that there are many things that I have to do in there. I will do what I have to do by giving my utmost efforts". He left the stage after singing the last song, but he appeared again to give an encore to the audience and he continued to present his hit songs "It's Raining" and "Instead of Saying Good-bye". In addition, he read his own letter that he had written for his fans. He said, "I wrote this letter as I could not sleep last night". He greatly appreciated his fans' love shown to him. He continued, "Now I am going to become a real man. I have finally come to have a time to look at myself. But I feel sorry and ashamed that the timing for fulfilling my military obligation seems to be too late. I will come back as 'grown-up' Jeong Ji Hoon".

A Japanese fan named Naomi Yoko (26), who came to the concert, said, "I came to Korea from Osaka to attend his concert. As it was his last concert before he joins the army, I could not help crying the whole time while watching his performance. I hope that he has good health while serving in the military".

Rain will enter a tRaining camp for Reserve Forces in Uijeongbu on October 11.