‘Hyeonyeok Gawang 3’ poster. Provided by Crea Studio

Producer Seo Hye-jin, who has shaken up the survival-competition field, raises the curtain on the battlefield once more with ‘Hyeonyeok Gawang 3’.

Regarding MBN’s ‘Hyeonyeok Gawang 3’, premiering on the 23rd, Seo Hye-jin introduced it as “a stage where active artists from diverse genres compete, not limited to trot.” This season is the process of selecting the national-team TOP7 who will compete in the ‘2026 Korea-Japan King of Singers’.

The following is a Q&A with Seo Hye-jin.

- Thoughts on making it to Season 3 and the driving force.

“It is a stroke of luck to have produced up to Season 3 amid so much content. ‘Hyeonyeok Gawang’ has expanded beyond a simple trot audition into a contest between nations. The sincere desires of skilled vocalists who want to become national representatives have been the driving force.”

- Why expand beyond trot into other genres?

“We attempted genre expansion on ‘Hyeonyeok Gawang Japan’ and the results were good. We applied that to the Korean edition. We broadened the scope beyond trot to mainstream popular music overall to showcase a contest among masters of song.”

- Top-tier singers such as Cha Ji-yeon and Solji are appearing.

“The core concept is participation by top-tier active artists across diverse genres. Artists resonated with the aim of ‘selecting national representatives among the champions of vocals in all genres.’”

- What is the newly introduced ‘Witch Hunt’ rule?

“We introduced it to break familiar audition rules and bring freshness. A witch judging panel whose combined active careers total 400 years will raise the bar by refraining from handing out casual passes and applying sharp evaluations.”

- Thoughts on the ‘2026 Korea-Japan King of Singers’ and Korea-Japan exchange?

“Contrary to initial concerns, thanks to the mature cultural awareness of Korean viewers, broadcast exchange between Korea and Japan has expanded. The third ‘Korea-Japan King of Singers’ is being prepared together with a more influential Japanese platform.”

- Plans for a concert tour and synergy.

“Auditions are a high-cost format, so the objective must be clear. ‘Hyeonyeok Gawang’ has survived as content that can be staged as performances. We will continue performances that offer comfort and joy to viewers.”

- A word to viewers.

“Please cheer on the 29 active artists who will engage in fierce competition. We will make it entertaining so that not even a single second invites distraction.”