The festival, which was non-competitive, took place in the KBS Concert Hall, located in the South Korean capital of Seoul and coincided with the 49th general assembly of the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU).

[7] The European Broadcasting Union had proposed a partnership with the ABU in 2008 to establish the Asiavision Song Contest, however these talks never produced any results.

[9] In 2008, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) proposed a partnership with ABU on the establishment of an Asiavision Song Contest,[9] however these talks didn't produce any result, and in September 2008 it was announced that the Eurovision Song Contest format for Asian production had been sold to a private company from Singapore, Asiavision Pte.

[9][10] Initially, the contest (which was supposed to be a two program live broadcast TV show with public voting) was set to premiere in 2009, but it was later rescheduled for March 2010 in Macao and then for November 2010 in Mumbai, at the end being postponed indefinitely "due to the ongoing issues between the organizers and EBU".

In November 2011, the ABU announced that they would organize its own TV and Radio Song Festivals to take place in Seoul, the South Korean capital, in time with 49th General Assembly in October 2012.

The Seoul National Capital Area is home to four UNESCO World Heritage Sites: Changdeokgung, Hwaseong Fortress, Jongmyo Shrine and the Royal Tombs of the Joseon Dynasty.

The host broadcaster offered to cover costs for staging the show as well as the accommodation for the participants of ABU TV Song Festival.

[2] Notes Each participating country were invited to broadcast both events across their respective networks and provide commentary in the native languages to add insight and description to the shows.