The production company representative of ‘Under Fifteen’ has revealed the reason for holding an explanation event.

On the afternoon of the 25th, an emergency production briefing session for the new MBN entertainment program ‘Under Fifteen’ was held at the Grand Ballroom on the 2nd floor of the Stanford Hotel Korea in Sangam-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 defy 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 show, 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 expanding as if they were true,” he said. “All the participants who risked their pride to help have suffered great damage to their honor. I thought about how to end this situation and decided to hold this unusual event. If possible, I would like to urgently clarify any differences from what we think are true,” he said, explaining the reason for holding the emergency production report meeting.

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

Meanwhile, “Under Fifteen” was originally scheduled to premiere at 9:10 p.m. on the 31st, but MBN announced that it would reexamine its programming.

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.