A trainee at one of South Korea's most powerful entertainment agencies spoke to an American news station about what it means to train to become a K-pop star.

Mark Lee, a 15-year-old American trainee, spoke to ABC News' Seoul Bureau Chief Johee Cho his life as a Trainee. Lee is one of the members of SM Entertainment's pre-debut team, known as SM Rookies.

The SM Rookies member talked about the differences between Korean entertainers and overseas musicians.

"What I realized is that the entertainer isn't just about singing and rapping," Lee told ABC News. "You have to be able to entertain people, you have to be able to speak fluently, you have to be funny, and humorous so that people can like you."

ABC News also spoke to Stereotypes producer Jon Yip, who explained that the training process helped Korean stars be more comfortable on stage. 

"In America, you can be discovered off YouTube and all of a sudden you're thrown on stage and like, 'What am I going to do?'" Yip said, explaining that K-pop's trainee strategy helped avoid this sort of situation.

Along with speaking to Lee and Yip, ABC's Cho called SM Entertainment's act TVXQ "Asia's most popular artists from Korea." She also discussed how large K-pop group's helped companies reduce risk. 

The ABC News report  aired on June 5, days after a report by BBC News on K-Pop's overseas influence and spoke to multiple YG Entertainment-related people, including 2NE1's CL. The BBC also spoke to a former SM Entertainment trainee, who talked about SM Entertainment's contracts. 

Mark Lee is a rapper born in 1999 who is training to debut as a K-pop star, or idol. He is currently under contract with SM Entertainment.

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