On October 15, YouTube channel 'KOREA NOW' released a video featuring Kim Sung-eun's recent interview.
As Kim Sung-eun sat on her seat, she introduced herself as a vocal coach who trained K-pop acts such as I.O.I, TWICE, SUNMI, ENHYPEN, BTS and more; mostly before their debut, but some after.
Since she has trained hundreds of trainees up to now, she was asked if there were any sad moments she witnessed while she trained them.
Kim Sung-eun answered, "Yeah, I have. It's really heartbreaking to see some trainees failing to make their debut. They may simply not be suitable for the group's general image, their voice might not 'go well' with the rest of the group members despite their great vocal skills. It might be because they are just not good-looking or tall enough. Whatever the reason is, it's so sad to see them go home."
Kim Sung-eun responded, "I actually taught JIN until right before his debut. And I only taught JUNGKOOK for a short while, because he had to concentrate more on dance training. For V, his lessons were on and off. So, I would say that JIN was the only BTS member that I taught on a regular basis for a long time."
"JIN doesn't stop to improve himself. He worked hard on his vocals even after his debut. I was literally amazed by the amount of effort he put in. He would send me a message at three in the morning, saying that he is heading somewhere at four. Since I was asleep at that time, he would playfully tell me off for being lazy."
"JIN and I kept in touch time to time, and he often messaged me to show me how he practiced his vocals. In the videos that he sent me, he was practicing the songs that we practiced together before his debut. Along with the videos, he was like, 'I can sing much better than before now, right?' I felt grateful to him because he went out of his way to find time to practice in the middle of his hectic schedule."
After saying that, Kim Sung-eun added, "It's not only JIN, but the other members of BTS are all such incredible individuals. Not only are they great artists, but they are also amazing people. No matter how busy they were, they never stopped practicing and cared for people around them. I honestly hope others in the industry would model themselves after them."
(SBS Star)