Representatives at JYP Entertainment, one of the country’s leading talent agencies, have announced plans to hold an audition session this year exclusively for teenagers.

JYP is home to a number of popular K-pop idol groups and is looking for young hopefuls to fill the shoes of these successful acts and ensure the future of the agency.

“2PM, 2AM, Wonder Girls, miss A, GOT7 and others are all K-pop stars who are not only popular in Korea but are loved internationally as well and we are looking to find those who are able to carry on the responsibility of JYP Entertainment’s future through the ‘2014 JYP Dream Teen Auditions,’” said a JYP official. “We are really looking forward to seeing the talent and the passion of these young teens.”

After recently deciding to combine all his subsidiary talent agencies under one umbrella, JYP Entertainment, JYP CEO Park Jin-young seems to be focusing this year on securing new talent. The company recently debuted the latest boy band, GOT7, in January and has announced plans to debut two more groups this year: boy band 5Live as well as a six-member girl group currently in the making.

The entertainment agency’s representative boy band 2PM is also scheduled to make a return this April.

Applicants need to have been born between 1996 and 2003 to qualify. Auditions will be held on April 5 at the JYP Training Center in Cheongdam-dong, Seoul. For more information, visit http://audition.jype.com/2014dreamteen.

By Julie Jackson (juliejackson@heraldcorp.com)