By Yoon Sojung
Photos = Kim Sunjoo
Seoul | Nov. 8, 2019

All seven members of the Myanmarese boy band Alfa have one thing in common: an intense love for K-pop.

Ahead of its official debut in December, the group expressed its excitement over being in Korea to realize its dream, saying, "We took on this challenge because we love K-pop. Now we want to lead Myanmar's pop music."

Alfa was formed through an open audition in Yangon last year and its members beat out thousands of applicants. Despite not having debuted yet, the boy band has received strong media exposure in Myanmar as the future leader of "M-pop."

The seven members received intensive training from Korean instructors of aspiring K-pop idols in a wide range of skills such as vocals and dance choreography. The group said its dream is to become pop stars like BTS or Exo.

Korea.net on Nov. 8 held an interview with Alfa members while they were shooting a music video at a studio in the Nonhyeon-dong neighborhood of Seoul's Gangnam-gu District.

- Welcome to Korea. What song are you filming a music video for?

"One and Only," and it's no ordinary love song. It says young people must work hard to find their own ways to realize their dreams. It's actually our story as our debut is coming soon.

- How do you find the process of shooting a music video?

We were surprised by the systematic production structure but are learning a lot from the staff about the production process. We're amazed by the overall production system, which follows a well-organized storyboard and continuity, and this makes everything go according to plan.

This is the first visit to Korea for most of us, apart from Adam. This might sound strange but the weather is colder than we expected. This has, however, improved our focus on our performance. We had a well air-conditioned studio back home but easily got exhausted because of the hot and wet weather. We like Korea's cool weather.

- You received intensive training from Korean instructors in many skills such as vocals and dance choreography. How difficult was it?

We initially had communication issues because of language. We weren't sure if we correctly understood our teachers in our dance and vocal training. But we worked really hard to overcome these difficulties. Now all of us can speak and understand a little Korean so things are getting better.

- What are the differences between Myanmarese and Korean pop songs?

Myanmarese used to follow Western pop but K-pop is really popular these days. Many youths in Myanmar love Korean idol stars and to sing K-pop songs. The (main) difference between K-pop and M-pop is song structure because of the linguistic differences between the two languages.

- What K-pop acts are your role models and which are your favorites?

We wish to emulate most J-Hope, Jin, Jimin and Jungkook. We also like Baekhyun and Do of Exo. Among girl groups, we like Twice and Blackpink. We like listening to "Jopping" by SuperM. 

- How was your recent meeting with the Myanmarese ambassador to Korea?

The ambassador urged us to serve as a bridge for exchange between Korea and Myanmar. He called us youths to lead Myanmar's future and said he hopes we play many roles (to that end). He added that Koreans are successful because they work hard and sleep only five hours a day, and that we should learn these lessons and work hard for our country's success.

- What are your plans?

We'll perform the title song from our album on Dec. 5 and make our official debut on Dec. 12. We'll also prepare more songs. We'd like to say thanks to our management agency JBJ for everything. We love K-pop so much and have wanted to be pop stars since we were young. And now, we're so excited and happy that our dream will soon come true.

arete@korea.kr