Seoul's Seocho-gu, led by District Mayor Jeon Seong-su, wrapped up the "2026 Arts Career Talk Concert" on Thursday at Seocho Culture and Arts Center, co-organized with SM UNIVERSE, an education-focused subsidiary of SM Entertainment.
The event was designed to help teenagers and young adults dreaming of careers in music and the arts hear firsthand from working artists and share their own concerns about the future. The concert unfolded in two parts under the theme "Challenges and Survival Strategies of Artists at Any Age: Making It in the Music Industry."
Part 1, titled "Honest Stories from Artists," featured live performances by artists Min Ji-un, Kang Seok-hwa and BIG OCEAN, along with choreographer RENAN. The performers also drew on their own experiences to speak candidly about the practical challenges of sustaining a career in music.
Part 2, an open-mic segment, gave audience members the floor to voice their own career anxieties and engage directly with the cast. Attendees spoke openly about the uncertainty of pursuing music and the difficulties of choosing a career path, while the working artists responded with advice rooted in personal experience, offering empathy and encouragement.
The concert carried added significance because graduates of the "Concert Planning Professional Training Program," jointly run by Seocho-gu and SM UNIVERSE, took charge of planning and operating the event themselves. The program ran from May through July, selecting 15 participants per cohort for a total of 30; it drew 412 applicants, a competition ratio of roughly 14 to 1.
Participants received instruction covering the full range of concert planning and production — from concept development, marketing and budgeting to technical rehearsals, visual directing and cue-sheet writing. They also gained hands-on experience through a backstage tour of Inspire Arena and on-site observation at a live concert. The talk concert gave them the opportunity to put those skills into practice by planning and running the event from start to finish.
"I hope this concert was a meaningful occasion that brought comfort and courage to the teenagers and young adults who dream of a life in music," District Mayor Jeon said. "Seocho-gu will continue to develop a wide range of education and cultural arts programs so that young people can freely pursue their dreams and talents."
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