The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper - Season 3

CNN Senior Investigative Correspondent Kyung Lah presents an in-depth look at the unusual star-making K-Pop industry in South Korea. 

K-Pop idol bands have fan bases all over the globe, hugely popular musicians and songs originating from South Korea.  But these bands are molded and created in a way unlike anything else in the music industry. Aspiring young stars take on rigorous vocal, dance and fitness training from early morning to late at night, some even leaving school and living in dorms away from their families. In "K-Pop: A Star is Made" Lah embeds in the strenuous training process of seven aspiring K-Pop stars in a small studio in the heart of Seoul, South Korea when they are just one week away from auditioning for the studio's premiere idol group.

"As a Korean American growing up in Chicago, I never imagined my native language would be streamed across platforms in the US as a multi-billion-dollar industry," said Lah. "It still shocks me to this day. What I wanted CNN's audience is to see and experience how this happened, through the intimacy of the struggle of the K-pop trainees you'll meet in our hour. They're more than perfect young men and women of the TikTok era — they're utterly human, some as young as 14, and as vulnerable as the young fans who listen to them."

The episode features interviews with Amber Liu, Megan Moon and Min who talk about the global impact of this explosive industry, which also comes with international scrutiny for its stars. Lah also speaks with the trainees about the pressure to maintain a certain appearance, and how extreme dieting and plastic surgery are common amongst K-Pop hopefuls.