2018 Olympics Director Confirms PSY, BTS Were Invited To Perform

The 2018 Winter Olympics may be over, but the K-pop fandom is still buzzing about the event. The two-week gathering put South Korea on the world stage as millions tuned into the games. Its lively closing ceremony drew in plenty of viewers, and K-pop acts like EXO and CL took to the stage there to perform.

However, it seems a few more idol acts might have joined the two all-stars. Namely, PSY and BTS.

Recently, the director of the PyeongChang Olympics' opening and closing ceremonies opened up about their line-ups. Song Seung Hwan appeared on the FM radio show "Kim Eo Jun's New Factory" to talk about the big events, and he admitted Psy and BTS were invited to perform (via Soompi).

When it comes to Psy, Song said he met with the viral singer about performing, but PSY felt burdened taking on such a big stage.

"I met with PSY. However, he himself was burdened by the thought of continuing to perform 'Gangnam Style.' Instead, we included 'Gangnam Style' when the athletes were entering during the opening ceremony. For that, PSY said he would personally arrange the music, so [the track used] was one arranged by PSY himself."

The director said PSY was hesitant to perform after he was criticized for doing so at the 2014 Asian Games. "I think it's quite difficult, being a celebrity," Song said. "If they perform at some event, people criticize them saying, 'Why did they appear?,' and if they don't appear, they're criticized for not appearing."

As for BTS, the international superstars were on Song's list of possible performers, but their packed schedule got in the way of planning.

"We sent an offer to BTS early last year, but they have so many schedules abroad," the director revealed. "It seemed likely that they would be abroad during the Olympics, so it was difficult to schedule them ahead of time."

Do you wish these two acts could have taken to the Olympics stage? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics, k-pop, and anime!