Year-end Korean music programs showcase top K-pop acts and more

Girl group IVE poses during the red carpet event prior to the KBS ″2023 Music Bank Global Festival″ on Dec. 15. [YONHAP]

The time has come for the year’s top K-pop stars to gather together for the year-end music programs, showing off their songs and moves with unprecedented collaborations and performances.

MBC’s “2023 Gayo Daejejeon” is slated to air on Dec. 31 at 8:30 p.m. and will be hosted by Girls’ Generation’s Yoona, SHINee’s Minho and singer Hwang Min-hyun.

This year will be Yoona’s ninth year in a row hosting the program, while Minho is returning as a host after five years. He last hosted the program for 2018.

K-pop artists such as (G)I-DLE, aespa, Ateez, Enhypen and IVE are slated to take the stage during the show.

Other artists also scheduled to perform during the year-end event are: &Team, 2AM, ATBO, Baekho, BoyNextDoor, Cravity, Day6, Fantasy Boys, fromis_9, Hyoyeon, Itzy, Lucy, NCT127, NCT Dream, NCT U, NiziU, NMIXX, Riize, SHINee, Stay Kids, ZeroBaseOne, Kwon Eun-bi, Dynamic Duo, The Boyz, Kep1er and more.

Singer Yoon Sang, Lee Juck, Dynamic Duo, 2AM, Paul Kim, Day6, and Lucy will only perform at MBC's "Gayo Daejejeon" this year, and not at other major year-end music programs held by KBS and SBS, according to MBC.

K-pop performances are not the only thing to look out for during the event, however.

Trot singers Jang Minho and Young Tak along with dance crews Bebe and V1llion by 1Million will also take to the stage.

SBS is slated to air its own year-end special music program “2023 Gayo Daejeon” on Dec. 25 at the newly opened Inspire Arena on Yeongjong Island, Incheon.

Inspire Arena is an indoor multipurpose performance hall that can seat 15,000 people.

The special SBS program will be hosted by SHINee’s Key, Tomorrow X Together’s Yeonjun and IVE’s An Yujin.

K-pop artists such as NewJeans, TVXQ, Stray Kids and Le Sserafim will perform during the program.

Special collaboration performances will be also be held, including a collaborative performance by four so-called fifth-generation K-pop boy bands: BoyNextDoor, ZeroBaseOne, Riize and &Team.

Other special collaborations will take place with Itzy’s Yuna and Tomorrow X Together’s Yoenjun; NCT 127 and Stray Kids; and (G)I-DLE and Le Sserafim.

This year’s KBS annual year-end music program “KBS Song Festival” was replaced with the “2023 Music Bank Global Festival,” which aired on Dec. 15.

The first part of the program took place live at KBS Hall in Seoul, while the second half played prerecorded performances held in Japan at Belluna Dome on Dec. 9.

The first part of the show was hosted by IVE’s Jang Wonyoung and Rowoon, a former member of boy band SF9. Rowoon also hosted the second part, which took place in Japan, alongside rapper Lee Young-ji and actor Go Min-si.

K-pop artists, including Sunmi, NCT 127, SHINee, Kang Daniel, STAYC, P1Harmony, NewJeans and Le Sserafim took to the stage for the show.

To find out more about K-pop Artists, visit Celeb Confirmed!

BY KIM JI-YE [kim.jiye@joongang.co.kr]