Learning to sing and dance was apparently only part of the job for trainees at JYP Entertainment.
NMIXX members Jiwoo and Kyujin have offered a glimpse inside the K-pop powerhouse’s extensive trainee education system, revealing that their Saturday lessons covered everything from dining etiquette and history to IT — on top of demanding monthly evaluations that could include as many as 11 categories.
The two singers discussed their trainee years in a video uploaded Tuesday to chef Park Eun-young’s YouTube channel “Bobeunyoung,” where they chatted over packed lunches.
Kyujin said trainees attended a range of classes every Saturday, including lessons on dining etiquette, history and IT.
Park, surprised by the breadth of the curriculum, asked what exactly JYP trainees were taught about eating etiquette.
Jiwoo and Kyujin said the lessons went into the differences among Korean, Japanese, Chinese and Western dining settings.
“The utensils are different for Korean, Japanese, Chinese and Western food, so we learned the order in which they should be placed and how to use them,” they said.
They also learned basic table manners, including placing a napkin on their lap and avoiding resting their elbows on the table while eating.
“This is basically a school,” Park said. “You learn social skills, etiquette, dancing and singing.”
But classroom-style lessons were only one part of the trainee experience.
Kyujin also recalled JYP’s monthly evaluations, saying trainees sometimes faced as many as 11 separate assessment categories.
Those included vocals, basic dance routines, choreography, K-pop cover dances, languages and writing rap lyrics.
The extensive evaluation process could be overwhelming, Kyujin said, but she now believes the demanding system helped her improve.
“It was tough, but looking back now, I think I was able to improve my skills and grow a lot because we had to do all of that,” she said.
Jiwoo and Kyujin eventually debuted as members of NMIXX under JYP Entertainment, one of South Korea’s major K-pop agencies.
Their account offers a rare look at how K-pop trainee preparation can extend far beyond the singing and dancing audiences ultimately see onstage.
This article from Xportsnews was adapted by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.
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