PD Na Young-seok forms variety group to lead the next decade... members of 'Why Are We Even Hiking?' consider quitting [Comprehensive]

*This content was translated by AI.

PD Na Young-seok has formed a variety group. He is embarking on a winter mountain expedition with members who will lead the way for the next decade.

On the 12th, a press conference was held at Naru Hotel Seoul M Gallery in Mapo-gu, Seoul, for Netflix's new variety program 'Why Are We Even Hiking?' (hereinafter 'Dae-deung-wae'). The event was attended by PD Na Young-seok, PD Park Hyun-yong, singer Kaddi Garden, Day6's Dowoon, actor Lee Chae-min, and OllDay Project's Taran.

'Dae-deung-wae' is a hiking variety show following four involuntary hikers who have never been interested in hiking throughout their lives as they embark on their first-ever winter mountain expedition.

Regarding his feelings about presenting a new IP, PD Na Young-seok said, "Every time I bring out a new program, I feel excited, hopeful, and worried."

He added, "I believe people are everything. It's an honor to work with these four as a new crew. After pondering what kind of IP would suit them, I found hiking. It was still a joyful experience, and I wanted viewers to enjoy that moment of climbing the mountain together, which is why I presented it."

PD Park Hyun-yong explained the program's planning background. PD Park stated, "Writer Lee Woo-jeong, who works with me, has hiking as a hobby. Neither I nor PD Na Young-seok like hiking. Despite having no interest in hiking, we went hiking because of writer Lee Woo-jeong and ended up talking a lot. I thought that if we pushed ourselves through hardship, we'd become closer and suddenly grow fond of each other." He also shared, "In fact, when recruiting these members, we didn't mention hiking at all. We talked about an entirely different program. They must have struggled with unwanted hiking."

PD Park also revealed the origin of the program's title. He said, "When I suggested hiking, PD Na Young-seok asked, 'Why are we even hiking?' That actual phrase became the title."

Upon hearing this, PD Na explained, "(The title) seems to represent our cast members in one sentence. Many people wonder why they should climb mountains. We titled it this way hoping viewers will watch with similar feelings."

The members shared their feelings immediately after learning about the 'winter mountain climbing' item. Kaddi Garden said, "I thought it made no sense. I wondered how bad the reputation would be if we quit here."

Dowoon recalled, "I thought it was a job scam. If Kaddi Garden quit with his head held high, I planned to quit too. But when he stood tall and did well, I was disappointed."

Lee Chae-min shared, "I love sports in general, but not hiking specifically. I ended up hiking involuntarily. Thinking about climbing a big mountain instead of the small hill in front of my house made me dizzy and very worried."

Taran added, "I dislike cold weather, so I thought that would be tough. But I also realized it was somewhat fun, more than I expected."

Recalling the moment during the winter mountain climb, Kaddi Garden said, "I am the victim. It's hard to recall the moment I was harmed," eliciting laughter. He also revealed he wanted to descend immediately after climbing.

Dowoon stated, "As soon as we started climbing, I wanted to come down right away. The descent path was long too." He added, "It was truly a charming hiking experience."

Lee Chae-min said, "If I had to pick one thing, it was tough, but my legs felt heavier once I actually climbed up. What stood out in memory was the view of Hallasan. It was exercise like a gift from a special experience. But even I wanted to descend."

Taran revealed his appetite by saying, "I climbed with the single determination that there would be food to eat at the top."

PD Na explained why he recruited these four people. He said, "My ambition was to create a next-generation variety group that will lead the way for the next decade. Therefore, they had to be new figures no one else had touched." He added, "I formed the group this way. I may not know their abilities well, but I am confident they have immense potential."

PD Na further explained, "Originally, I planned to make a game show program. I lured them in that way, and while interviewing them during the process, I thought they could overcome even difficult challenges beyond simply playing games happily. Since these are people who will lead the next decade anyway, we can do games later. During their shining youth, we decided on something challenging—hiking."

Upon hearing this, Kaddi Garden said, "As a victim, it's unbelievable to hear such words."

Kaddi Garden explained why he changed his mind and came all the way here despite thinking it was a job scam: "There was a memorable scene. After finishing the hike, we were all relieving stress together when PD Na Young-seok was watching the golf channel while drinking half a bottle of soju. I thought, 'This person is depressed. That's why his mind got twisted and he even committed job scams. I'll look out for him.' That's why I appeared at this press conference."

Kaddi Garden announced that he would refuse any future love calls from PD Na Young-seok. He confessed, "It's hard to torment someone at first. The next time is even more painful. No matter how much I feel sorry for him, it doesn't seem right."

He added, "Honestly, I tell people around me not to watch this. If we become popular, we'll have to climb mountains again, so I told them not to watch. I also told them not to say hiking sounds fun."

PD Na said, "I expected that making these friends suffer would produce human stories and entertainment. However, the result differed from my expectations. Traditional variety shows gain fun and emotion by making members suffer. But when we made members who had never done variety shows suffer, we got a slightly off-track result." He hinted at this unique kind of fun.

He continued, "I don't think we'll find deep emotion or resonance. In fact, the members were so tired they couldn't even see the scenery. Yet, I've never heard any of these four say, 'I'm tearing up' while looking at the view."

He concluded, "You will be able to see a different kind of fun that deviates from the past."

Meanwhile, 'Dae-deung-wae' will premiere on the 18th.

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*This content was translated by AI.