The production team of ‘Korea-Japan Top Ten Show’ has addressed the allegations regarding the departure of seven Japanese cast members.
On the 5th, the production team of MBN’s ‘Korea-Japan Top Ten Show’ released an official statement saying, “The claim of ‘forced departure’ of the Japanese members is not true. Typically, all members (including Korean and Japanese members) have been contracted for 12 episodes per season for a program,” and added, “The production team has extended the contract with both Korean and Japanese members to continue into Season 2.”
They continued, “Since Season 2, the schedules of the Japanese members, who have gained recognition in Japan after appearing on ‘Korea-Japan Top Ten Show,’ have increased, leading to many instances where they could not participate in recordings. Sometimes, when schedules fell through, emergency replacements were brought in,” and explained, “In particular, Rie has hardly appeared in Season 2, and other members have also had inconsistent appearances.”
They added, “Considering that traveling back and forth between Korea and Japan is not easy, we are exploring various ways to flexibly feature members according to their schedules.”
The production team pointed out, “In this situation, the claim of forced departure of the Japanese members undermines the efforts of the production team, who have been striving to introduce songs from both countries,” and stated, “If false information that could damage the trust between the two countries is spread in the future, we will take legal action.”
Finally, the production team expressed their commitment to continue creating programs that promote cultural exchange between Korea and Japan.
On the 5th, a media outlet reported that the Japanese cast members of MBN’s ‘Korea-Japan Top Ten Show’ received a unilateral departure notification from the production team effective October 24.
The seven Japanese cast members are Aiko Sumida, Natsuko, Miyu Kanou, Rie Utagokoro, Aki Azuma, Makoto, and Mira Fukuda. The agency nCH Entertainment stated, “It is true that we were notified that the last recording for ‘Korea-Japan Top Ten Show’ has been completed,” and added, “After the recording, the production team told the cast, ‘Today was the last recording,’ and ‘Thank you for your hard work so far.’”
[Ji Seung-hoon, Star Today Reporter]
