A tearful production report meeting has been held.

On the afternoon of the 25th, an emergency production report meeting for MBN‘s new entertainment program ‘Under Fifteen’ was held at the Grand Ballroom on the 2nd floor of the Stanford Hotel Korea in Sangam, Mapo-gu, Seoul. The event was attended by Hwang In-young, CEO of Crea Studio, Seo Hye-jin, and PD Yong Seok-in.

‘Under Fifteen’ is a ‘K-POP prodigy discovery project for those under 15 years old’ and is an audition program to train a 5th generation girl group with skills and talent that surpass their age. However, before the broadcast, it was embroiled in a ‘controversy over the sexual commercialization of minors’. In particular, several civic groups pointed out that young children were being treated as tools for commercial gain.

Regarding this, CEO Hwang In-young said, “I am sorry and regretful for causing concern. When producing a broadcast, you can get caught up in unexpected controversies, and it can also be an opportunity to develop in unexpected ways. However, the unexpected things are spreading as if they were true,” he said. “The staff who risked their pride to help have suffered a great blow to their honor. I thought about how we can end this situation, and I decided to hold this unusual event. If possible, I would like to urgently clarify any parts that are different from what we think are true,” he said, explaining the reason for holding an emergency production report meeting.

CEO Hwang In-young said, “I learned that those who create broadcasts are evaluated by their content rather than a hundred words, and that they should be recognized by the public because of that. This made me want to protect everyone who is with us.”


However, MBN announced its position on reexamining the program. On the 21st, MBN said, “We are taking the concerns of all walks of life in our society seriously regarding ‘Under Fifteen.’ Regarding this, MBN will comprehensively review the details of the program as well as whether or not to air it, and will announce our position soon.”

Regarding this, CEO Seo Hye-jin said, “We have done various programs with MBN, but we do not receive production costs from MBN. MBN is merely a platform. We do not have differences of opinion with MBN. MBN used the expression ‘review’ because we feel a responsibility as a platform. MBN internally reviewed the first episode and decided that there were no problems. We have already sent it to the Korea Communications Standards Commission and the Korea Communications Standards Commission.” She added, “If you really want to protest, just come to Crea Studio and do it. MBN has nothing to do with this issue.”

Regarding the barcode-style profile, she explained that it was a student ID image found on a search site, revealing mobile messenger conversations. CEO Seo Hye-jin said, ”I want to say that the barcode controversy is a huge misunderstanding. It was produced with the concept of a student ID. We were also very surprised that they were converting this into some kind of sexual meaning.“ She added, ”I was very surprised that they were using the concept of a student ID to talk about the prostitution of a 9-year-old girl and something sexual. Also, the production team was female. 90% of the production team on site are women. You shouldn’t think that female workers have low sexual awareness. I hope people recognize that the people who produced this on site were women.“


‘Under Fifteen’ was originally scheduled to premiere at 9:10 p.m. on the 31st, but MBN announced that they would be re-examining the programming, making the programming uncertain.

CEO Seo Hye-jin said, ”I bow my head and ask you. “Our intention is not to sexually objectify children,” he said. “We are not going to force the broadcast, but are trying to adjust the broadcast date by gathering various opinions. We are not going to go ‘strong against strong.’ We have prepared this place to explain that that is absolutely not our intention,” he said, repeatedly begging for people to stop distorted views. CEO Hwang In-young even shed tears during the Q&A session. CEO Seo Hye-jin also shed tears.

Is ‘Under Fifteen’ really a program for children’s dreams or a program for adults to make money? The production company said that they released part of the first episode on YouTube. They also said that they will gather opinions and adjust the program’s release date. Now, it is up to the viewers and the public to decide. What will happen to ‘Under Fifteen’? The future is drawing attention.

Hong Se-young, Donga.com reporter, projecthong@donga.com

This article is automatically translated using Google AI. If you notice any inaccuracies, please let us know at allkstar@donga.com.