These were Bang Sihyuk's answers in an interview with a foreign media.
'The average cost for a trainee annually is 120M KRW and covered by the agency'
TMI) Companies like Big Hit, SM, JYP, and YG cover the cost of investment100%. The trainees don't have to repay the company, they can start earning money as soon as they debuted.
When the debut team is formed, the trainees have to live in a dorm at least for 1.5 years before their debut. As they prepare for their debut, they're required to do peer review for 3 to 6 months. Such as deciding who makes the best leader, which aspects they want the group to improve in, and they also decide their role in their group.
TMI) They're doing the 'Leader Test' during this period of time.
E.g: TXT
Beomgyu
Q: You said you did 'Leader Test' before the debut. What are you exactly doing for that test?
A: Each of us tried out being the leader of the group for 2 to 3 weeks. We would score each other and the one with the highest score becomes the leader...
The curriculum for Big Hit's trainees takes longer time and costs more than any other company. It's because Big Hit doesn't only train the trainees as singers, but also prepares for their social life, takes care of their mental health, physical, and also hold a mentoring program. We're not a formal educational institution, but we're trying to do our best as the member of society. -Bang PD
We also include 'Listening to the music' as a part of our training program because occasionally there are some trainees who aren't able to identify the kind of music they whole-heartedly like (Not just singing). -Trainee Development Team
TMI) Big Hit doesn't require acting class at all
The majority of companies now have changed their policy regarding their contracts, respecting their artists to decide. While Big Hit has already applied this policy since the very beginning
-That's so much more money than I expected
-But trainees from small companies still have to pay the money they were invested in back, right? Even though I'm sure it's not as much as stated on this post. I hope my biases would hit big as soon as possibleㅠㅠ
-Big Hit seems to have a really great system. But I don't think they could release another group like BTS.
-I just learned that they don't require any acting classes at all for their trainees. What if their idols suddenly develop an interest in acting?
-They don't require acting classes but they still provide the acting class when needed. I heard they hold such classes before filming music videos.
-That 'Listening to music' program sounds really great. There are people who still haven't figured out what they like, just like me.
-I really want to know how it feels like to be a trainee, even though I know it's not easy at all.
-It's very nice of Big Hit to take care of the trainees' mental health prior to their debut. I think every celebrity needs that.
-I wonder how they take care of the trainees' mental health and hold the mentoring for the social life... I want to experience such thing.
