On October 28th, rock band X JAPAN kicked off their first Asia tour at Seoul's Olympic Park Gymnastics Stadium.

Standing in front of 10,000 cheering fans, leader YOSHIKI called out, "Sarang hae yo, sarang hae yo! [I love you, I love you!]", before playing the Korean folk song "Arirang" on his piano. Wearing a pink 'hanbok' [traditional Korean clothes], YOSHIKI expressed, "We've dreamed about coming here for a very long time. HIDE and TAIJI also felt the same."

A concert in Seoul was one of X JAPAN's dearest wishes. YOSHIKI visited Korea back in September 2008 for promotions, and announced a concert for March 2009. However, the concert was canceled due to troubles with his agency. YOSHIKI commented, "I've been waiting for this day for a long, long time. We've really been through a lot."

X JAPAN performed a total of 10 songs including their world debut single, "JADE", their latest track, "Born To Be Free", and the timeless ballad, "ENDLESS RAIN".

A few days before the tour, X JAPAN's Bejing concerts were canceled by promoters due to technical and production issues. The band was able to push past those difficulties by showing a great start to the tour. Their next stop will be at the Shanghai Grand Stage on October 30th.

Check out pictures from the concert below!

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Source + Photos: Sanspo 1 + 2