TXT’s Soobin recalls abusive trainee days with Taehyun, says they were just kids: 'We got hit…'

The Korean idol system has long faced scrutiny for its intense and highly competitive nature. Many idols have opened up about the challenges of their trainee and debut days, sharing how they had to push through immense pressure to succeed.

TXT’s leader Soobin recently gave fans a glimpse into just how intense life was during their trainee days. In a viral clip from a Weverse livestream, he revealed that both he and bandmate Taehyun experienced physical punishments while learning choreography as children.

“This was when me and Taehyun had just been dancing for a week or two we were both extremely young kids, 8th and 10th graders who couldn’t even stretch our arms out properly…the seventeen hyungs do really hard choreographies, right? And they suddenly asked us to dance to this song and it’s not even like the teacher taught us the choreography, they told us to learn it ourselves by watching the video so me and Taehyun watched the video at 0.5x to learn the choreography and it seemed reallllly tough, so it was a given that we wouldn’t be able to dance well to it,” Soobin explained.

He added more context about the punishment they endured: “(Sighs) Taehyun ended up saying it but we did get hit back then…we got hit while we learnt it…” Soobin also noted that other trainees endured even harsher treatment.

Despite the shocking details, Soobin emphasised that times have changed. “They had physical punishments back then but if they physically punish someone now, they’d get in huge trouble,” he reassured fans.

For MOAs, TXT’s dedicated fandom, the livestream stirred a mix of emotions. Many were heartbroken to hear what their idols endured as middle schoolers, but also relieved that the industry has made progress. One fan wrote, “I can't believe they went through so much. They were just kids, man!" Another commented, “So glad that they were able to talk about it, look how far they've come." A third fan expressed shock, writing, “This is so upsetting how was this allowed???” One added, "Still here thinking about how ridiculous it is to ask new trainees with little to no dance experience to learn an advanced choreo by themselves and when they obviously don’t do that well, you smack them around enough for them to be scared..."