According to Korean media, the story of Kpop star V of BTS group being discovered for the first time is currently attracting renewed attention from fans.
Japanese news site Oricon recently published an interview with Kim Mi Jung - former casting director of BigHit Music (BTS's current management company) - who used to participate in casting members for BTS and TXT.
Kim Mi Jung said that among the many trainees she met during her years of "hunting" for talent, the moment she first saw V was the most impressive thing for her.
I have met many trainees, but V is the only one who gives me goosebumps as soon as I see him," she said.
At that time, Kim Mi Jung had just started working as a recruitment manager and was traveling around the local cities to find new talents for the company. She recalled that she spent a whole week searching in the southern city of Daegu (Korea) in the hot summer, but did not see anyone promising.
I searched for a whole week in Daegu but couldn't find anyone. I was exhausted and sitting resting when I looked up and saw an old academy building. I thought: "This is my last hope", then walked in," Kim Mi Jung recounted.
But initially, the academy staff told her that there were no young students there.
Kim Mi Jung asked if she could see the photos from previous events of the academy. When she flipped through the photos, a photo suddenly attracted attention.
She recalled: "It wasn't even a photo of him dancing. He was just smiling very brightly. But right at the moment I saw that photo, I had a premonition...".
The student in the photo turned out to be V (current BTS member), real name Kim Taehyung. After arranging the audition through many steps, Kim Mi Jung was completely convinced when meeting V directly.
“The moment he opened the door and walked in, I thought: “Ah, this is the person I was looking for,” she recounted.
Even V's reaction when receiving the admission notification call left a deep impression.
When I said that he had passed the audition round, he asked back: "Is this a scam?", Kim Mi Jung laughed and recalled.
Kim Mi Jung is known in the industry as a veteran Kpop talent hunter, who has 16 years of developing global artists and reviewing audition data from more than 1 million applicants around the world.
During her time working at BigHit Music, she not only contributed to discovering future stars of BTS but also of TXT.
After 2 years as a trainee, in June 2013, V officially debuted as a member of the boy group BTS.
After 13 years of operation, BTS has achieved countless achievements and records, becoming the most popular Kpop group with the largest number of fans today.
On March 20th, BTS will reappear with the studio album "Arirang". On the evening of March 21st, the group will hold a performance with a full 7-member lineup at Gwanghwamun Square, Seoul (Korea), broadcast live on the global Netflix platform.
