the upcoming MBC ‘Idol Star Athletics and Swimming Championships‘ for the Lunar New Year Special.

The ‘Idol Star Swimming and Athletics Championships’ will be broadcasted as a two-day special for February 5th and 6th, and it was created after the great success of the original ‘Idol Star Athletics Championships‘, which was aired last year during Chuseok.

The athletics championships will be recorded at the Seoul Songpa-Gu Jamsil Stadium and Gymnasium, where they will record a total of 24 races including the 100m sprints, 50m hurdle, and high jump.

Confirmed idol stars for the competition include 2PM, 2AM, TRAX, T-ara, miss A, Brown Eyed Girls, B2ST, SHINee, Son Ho Young, SECRET, SISTAR, IU, After School, Lee Hyun (of 8eight), f(x), NS Yoonji, and MBLAQ. Unfortunately, SNSD will not be able to participate due to clashing schedules with their Japanese promotions.

That being said, idol attendees for the swimming championships (held on January 30th) are yet to be confirmed. Netizens are particularly interested in After School UEE’s status, as she previously expressed her wish for the addition of a swimming component.

On the 19th, Kim Yoo Gun PD stated, “UEE’s participation in the athletics championship has been confirmed, however the schedule for the swimming competition is yet to be finalized. UEE’s attendance in the swimming championship has not yet been decided, and it’s been harder for us to come out with a decision due to the rising interest from the netizens. UEE herself feels burden by the excessive attention.”

He continued, “We’re cooperating with the National Athletics Federation for these championships. Foreign nations receive a lot of popularity through the World Cup or the Olympics, however for Korea, we haven’t been able to expose this department even during big events. Through these Idol Athletics and Swimming championships, we’d like it if the nation’s athletics and swimming fields received more interest from the general public.”