Park Jin-hai primarily focuses on K-dramas, entertainment shows and actor interviews. Beyond that, she also pens articles covering the broader arts scene, with a particular emphasis on classical music, dance and various aspects of lifestyle. Since joining The Korea Times in 2013, she has made significant contributions in the realms of hallyu (Korean wave), industry news and international affairs.
'Cool Kids' to communicate with today's young generation
A promotional photo for JTBC's upcoming reality show “Cool Kids” / Courtesy of JTBC
By Park Jin-hai
By Park Jin-hai
The younger generation today lives in its own world, using own newly coined words that the older generation don't have a clue about. The younger generation watches YouTube more than TV.
JTBC's new reality show “Cool Kids,” starring A-list comedian and emcee Yoo Jae-suk, football player-turned television personality Ahn Jung-hwan and comedian Kim Shin-young, will meet today's young people to bridge that generation gap.
“As an older generation member myself, whenever I meet people younger than me I find myself asking them what they do, what they like and what they think,” the show's chief producer Yoon Hyun-joon said at a press conference at the broadcaster's headquarters in Seoul, Friday. “Then I began thinking about having a reality show that directly takes a look at how the young generation lives, plays and thinks.”
The show viewed those under the age of 24 as members of this generation. Yoo, Ahn and Kim, who belong to older generations, join a group of young celebrities _ Han Hyun-min, a high school student model; Seulgi, a member of K-pop girl group Red Velvet, and rapper Haon, 18.
They will review YouTube videos that younger people have sent to the show and pick those they find interesting and meet their creators.
About 500 groups and over 1,000 people with expertise in various fields, including dancing and singing, applied to appear on the show. With some exceptions of young and popular YouTubers, most of those who applied were ordinary middle and high school students, the show's production team said.
“Our standard of screening has not been to find who are the weirdest but who express themselves best through their videos,” said Yoon. “Those young people have been really good at finding their uniqueness. Those applicants whose videos made the cast curious about what they think have been selected. Because it is not a talent show, if the person had a single strong point that provokes curiosity, we tended to choose the person. They are from diverse careers and they might be young but they shared their passion and hard work to achieve their dreams.”
Although the show has a screening process, Yoon says it is different from other TV shows that portrayed the life of influential creators popular on YouTube.
“Those previous shows put the focus on famous creators,” Yoon said. “Although our show doesn't intentionally exclude those famous influencers, our focus is not on them but on ordinary young people.”
Sections of videos created by the selected applicants will be shown on the show without extensive editing. Some subtitles inappropriate for broadcast and the length of the videos will be adjusted.
Yoon's previous works include “Hyori's Bed & Breakfast,” “Crime Scene” and “Two Yoo Project Sugar Man.”
“Cool Kids” premieres Sunday.