TXT member Soobin recently spoke candidly about the difficult conditions they faced as trainees at BigHit Entertainment. The 24-year-old singer revealed how demanding life was before his debut.
On April 17 (Korean time), Soobin came live on Weverse and interacted with MOAs for around five hours. He jammed to songs from fellow K-pop acts, including KARA, ATEEZ, BLACKPINK, SNSD, f(x), CNBLUE, and more.
Besides that, the TXT leader shared some of the most shocking details, saying,
Back then, we did get hit while learning choreography. We literally learned through being hit. Still, Taehyun and I got hit a bit less and managed to get through it. We weren’t great, but some trainees were even worse than us…that’s right. These days, corporal punishment isn’t allowed. Back then it happened, but now if anyone did that, it would be a huge problem.”
He also described one particularly challenging experience shortly after joining BIGHIT: covering SEVENTEEN’s song Mansae.
It was two weeks after I joined, and only Yeonjun hyung, Taehyun, and I were here. They made us dance to this song, and in the performance, there is a part where someone is sitting and spinning their arm, and we had to do that part. I think I still remember the choreography. You’ll hear Taehyun say that this performance was really scary to him, and it was really scary!!!.
Soobin shared that they were still very new to dancing at the time, and were asked to perform a difficult choreography originally done by SEVENTEEN. They were not given direct instructions and had to learn by watching the video, so he and Taehyun used to slow the video down to 0.5x speed to master the moves.
This is not the first time a TXT member has opened up about early days struggles. Previously, Yeonjun also shared his perspective during the World Tour Act: Sweet Mirage encore in December 2023:
We slept in the practice room that had leaking water, on cold winter days, with nothing to rely on but one fan heater for all of us. But those kids are now all grown and holding a concert in front of so many people. You have been through a lot, guys.
K-pop trainees and rookie artists facing such struggles are not unheard of. Most recently, a VCHA (now GIRLSET) member, KG, opened up about the alleged mistreatment and abuse she suffered at the hands of JYP USA staff. She was denied water and was forced to keep practicing despite an injury.
KG stated that she and her fellow members endured strict, unfulfilling diets while training for long hours. She alleged that one member developed an eating disorder and attempted suicide. After an extended legal dispute, KG settled with JYP America, and her contract with the agency has now been terminated.
Meanwhile, TXT will open their global tour, Act: TOMORROW, next weekend in Seoul, and begin the US leg in September.
