SM Ent. Shares How They Went the Extra Mile to Secure WONBIN Before Other Agencies Could

The head of SM Entertainment's Artist Development Center shared an interesting behind-the-scenes story about how K-pop boy group RIIZE's member WONBIN was scouted. 

The second part of SBS' television show "K-POP The Beginning: SMTOWN 30," which aired on February 1, took a deep dive into the history of SM Entertainment's casting system, from its early days of street casting in the '90s to the well-structured process in place today.
True to the saying, "SM Entertainment's casting team is everywhere," the show featured artists who were discovered in unexpected places and revealed some of the company's unique scouting methods.

The head of SM Entertainment's Artist Development Center explained, "We go just about anywhere teenagers hang out—schools, after school academies, popular spots. These days, we also do a lot of scouting through social media, and other online platforms."

KARINA of girl group aespa, who was cast through an Instagram DM, shared, "I first got a message from SM Entertainment's casting team when I was in middle school, then again from a different SM Entertainment rep in high school. That's how I ended up here." 

SION of boy group NCT had a similar story, saying, "I had just made an Instagram account when I got a DM from them."
WONBIN also caught attention when he said, "I had gotten home from school and was lying in bed when I got this DM. They said they were from SM Entertainment, and I thought it was a scam at first. But I figured, why not take a chance and go to the audition even if it was a scam? Turned out, it wasn't a scam though." 

The head of SM Entertainment's Artist Development Center then shared more about how WONBIN was scouted.

"At our first meeting, we saw a video of him and found out he was living in Ulsan. I told the team to pick him up from Seoul Station and bring him in. Normally, trainees come to us on their own, but we were scared that as soon as he arrived in Seoul, any agency could scout him. So we made sure to bring him in ourselves."
Debuted in September 2023 as part of RIIZE, WONBIN is thought to be one of the most good-looking fourth generation male K-pop stars.  

(Credit= SBS K-POP The Beginning: SMTOWN 30) 

(SBS Star)