Is interest in becoming a male K-Pop star decreasing?

On a community forum, netizens discussed a media report from media insiders sharing their observations in the K-pop industry. One manager for a new trainee development team from a large-scale entertainment company remarked that "the number of boy trainees auditioning is too low" after re-opening their doors post-pandemic.

They shared that the ratio of women to men among the applicants is 9:1. While potential girl group trainees are steadily showing interest for the likes of NewJeans and IVE, the same isn't the case for potential boy group trainees.

"It is getting harder to convince the male trainees to audition to become an idol when there are more routes nowadays with YouTube and social media (as an influencer), where you don't have to go through the arduous training," the manager revealed.

Insiders also noted that the popularity of male audition programs and survival shows is going down, with 'Fantasy Boys' and 'Boys Planet' both remaining in the 0% range in viewer ratings. Moreover, among the auditioning trainees, many are from international backgrounds, revealing that the interest is decreasing especially among potential Korean male idol trainees. 

Netizens' comments include:

"Boy groups are harder to succeed among the masses in Korea, so no wonder they would rather not go for it"
"It's much easier to go to Instagram or YouTube if you have the looks for it, so..."
"When groups like Big Bang used to be big, there was a higher number of interested male trainees. The style of boy groups nowadays may not be appealing to potential boy group trainees"
"It's difficult to go big"
"Would rather become social media models"
"Boy groups just don't look cool for the Korean male teens these days. Even if they are good at music, they would rather be in hip-hop as a rapper or join a band."
"Unless you're going to be as big as BTS, why would you want to even try to become a trainee to become an idol? It's too arduous"
"Of course, even I would try to be an actor instead"

What are your thoughts on the issue and the comments?