It is absolutely the thing I hate most about Kpop. They have used Kpop as soft power, weaponized fandom, and then tied the hands of any group whose fans are majority international. It's not only unfair, it's cruel. I'd understand these changes if companies didn't put so much effort on marketing to International audiences, but now with the globalization of Kpop, it means that groups can be hugely popular overseas but still fold and disband because the only opinions that matter are those of Koreans. Imagine being in one of those groups, having that popularity, but still being treated as lesser just because your fans aren't the right type of fans. So much rides on these shows (even though it shouldn't) when wins can be the difference between making it and disbandment, every vote should count.
I'm sure some will make the argument that these shows are Korean, and supposed to represent what groups are popular inside Korea, but the truth is that the GP doesn't really consume all that much Kpop, so they're not an accurate representation of trends, anyways. If they were, there would be far more soloists, bands, and trot singers promoting and winning there.
Overall, this trend towards Korean participation only is going to make these weekly shows even less entertaining, because it means the same artists will just keep winning over and over. Kpop is already slowing down and stagnating due to the intense focus on a smaller subset of artists, this will only add to the creative bottleneck.