Due to diplomatic issues, the chances of K-pop stars appearing in the NHK year-end music program had become slim. However, insider personnel of NHK recently revealed that the attempts of staff members had not been halted; NHK employees had even visited Europe last month (when they were on tour) to try to cast BTS.
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As the viewer ratings of 'Kohaku Uta Gassen' continue to go down gradually every year, Japanese media outlets had initially tried to recruit big K-pop stars such as TVXQ or BTS to be on the show. According to the Japanese journalist Toshi Yoshioka, BTS' Japanese activities are already in the talks for early next year, with Japanese media trying actively to bring them back on board.
On the other hand, since 'Kōhaku Uta Gassen' "does not greatly influence their popularity", the lack of BTS' appearance on the show does not seem to be a deal breaker for the group. For example, Yoshioka spoke on the demographics for 'Kōhaku Uta Gassen': since the viewers are much older than BTS' fans, the "already-existing popularity of BTS would not be affected", even if they do not appear.
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