'Under 15' producers defend controversial K-pop competition, but will 're-edit' the show
Published: 25 Mar. 2025, 17:20
Updated: 25 Mar. 2025, 22:41
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- YOON SO-YEON
- [email protected]
![Seo Hye-jin, Co-CEO of production company Crea Studio, explains the concept of minors-only audition program "Under 15" to reporters during a press conference held on March 25 at the Stanford Hotel in western Seoul. [NEWS1]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/03/25/18034f0c-3645-4945-818b-e8819395b132.jpg)
Seo Hye-jin, Co-CEO of production company Crea Studio, explains the concept of minors-only audition program "Under 15" to reporters during a press conference held on March 25 at the Stanford Hotel in western Seoul. [NEWS1]
Producers of the controversial minors-only K-pop audition show “Under 15” — featuring only contestants younger than 15 — defended their production on Tuesday amid mounting public outrage over its concept and imagery.
“We want to emphasize that there has been a huge misunderstanding,” said co-CEO Seo Hye-jin of Crea Studio, the production company behind “Under 15,” at a news conference Tuesday afternoon to address the criticisms that the company has faced since releasing its first trailer earlier this month.
The trailer, released on March 12, immediately came under fire when it showed 59 young contestants wearing thick makeup and dancing in short skirts. Additional alarm was raised when contestant photos uploaded to Instagram included bar codes, which many interpreted as objectifying the girls.
“I was shocked to see people associate the theme with sex, even prostitution,” Seo said, referring to the bar codes. “The bar codes were meant to look like student ID cards, which usually have bar codes on them. How could people link the bar code to sexuality? We took the photos down because we didn’t want to hurt the children, but we were genuinely shocked at how people could think.”
![An official poster for MBN's upcoming audition program ″Under 15″ [MBN]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/03/25/708dd00a-a2e9-463b-9b1e-f0d2b5cf7c5b.jpg)
An official poster for MBN's upcoming audition program ″Under 15″ [MBN]
While the producers opened the news conference with an apology, they focused more on the public's reaction than the show's concept. They described the program as a platform for giving young talent a chance to shine on a stage and get advice from high-quality trainers, especially children who hadn't had a chance to prove themselves at K-pop agencies’ auditions.
However, their remarks frequently veered into frustration, with repeated suggestions that the public criticism — rather than “Under 15" itself — was harming the show's young participants.
“We did think that there could be some concerns, but we spent a whole year making this show and we optimistically thought that people would be touched once they actually saw the show,” said Crea Studio co-CEO Hwang In-young. “All of us, not just the staff, but also the contestants and their guardians, thought, ‘Why is the show being criticized for being something it’s not?’”
![Contestants of MBN's minors-only audition program ″Under 15″ uploaded on the show's Instagram page [SCREEN CAPTURE]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/03/25/4b2c78f9-82e0-487d-805b-82616d1c5436.jpg)
Contestants of MBN's minors-only audition program ″Under 15″ uploaded on the show's Instagram page [SCREEN CAPTURE]
At one point, Hwang broke down in tears, expressing disbelief that the show was being accused of exploitation.
Seo founded Crea Studio in 2022. The executive worked at SBS for 21 years. She launched the successful “Miss Trot” (2019) and “Mr. Trot” (2020) trot audition shows at TV Chosun, where she had worked from 2018 to 2022. She also made three trot competition shows at MBN. She was removed as the producer of “Star King” (2006-2016) in 2009 for plagiarizing a Japanese show and came under fire in 2018 for paying a contract worker with gift cards instead of cash.
![Seo Hye-jin, Co-CEO of production company Crea Studio, explains the concept of minors-only audition program "Under 15" to reporters during a press conference held on March 25 at the Stanford Hotel in western Seoul. [NEWS1]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/03/25/81b601be-9bf3-4397-bb63-b1c7bba72c71.jpg)
Seo Hye-jin, Co-CEO of production company Crea Studio, explains the concept of minors-only audition program "Under 15" to reporters during a press conference held on March 25 at the Stanford Hotel in western Seoul. [NEWS1]
![Hwang In-young, Co-CEO of production company Crea Studio, sheds tears while explaining the concept of minors-only audition program "Under 15" to reporters during a press conference held on March 25 at the Stanford Hotel in western Seoul. [NEWS1]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/03/25/709fedee-eccf-40a3-9bed-5561e5eb6713.jpg)
Hwang In-young, Co-CEO of production company Crea Studio, sheds tears while explaining the concept of minors-only audition program "Under 15" to reporters during a press conference held on March 25 at the Stanford Hotel in western Seoul. [NEWS1]
“We are currently trying to get in contact with a K-pop agency that understands our ideas,” Seo said. “We are discussing debut and agency issues. And we are re-editing the show. We will run it through with all the related teams at MBN and figure out a schedule.”
MBN said last Friday that it would “fully review” the show. The first episode was scheduled to air on March 31 at 9 p.m. but the release may be delayed. No official announcement has come from MBN as of Tuesday. Women’s Party members held a news conference on Tuesday afternoon in front of the MBN headquarters, urging the broadcaster not to air the show.
“I think the problem becomes clear when you see it from a different perspective,” Seo said, tearing up. “Do you really think that the 100 staff members of ‘Under 15’ are working to sexualize children? Are they making sexual exploitation content of children? I think not.”
BY YOON SO-YEON [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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