SM Entertainment will hold an audition tour next year to recruit the agency's next generation of K-pop talent, the company said Thursday.

The audition will begin with stops in Korea. Two Seoul auditions will take place on Jan. 11 and Feb. 2. Other stops include Busan on Jan. 4, Daegu on Jan. 5, Daejeon and Jeonju, North Jeolla, on Jan. 17 and Gwangju and Wonju, Gangwon, on Jan. 18.


Auditions will also take place in China, Japan, the United States and Canada, including stops in China's Chongqing on Jan. 26, Guangzhou on Feb. 8, Beijing on Feb. 13 and Shanghai on Feb. 15 and in Japan's Tokyo on March 16, Nagoya on March 20, Osaka on March 23 and Fukuoka on March 25. Auditions in North American will take place in Toronto on May 3 and Los Angeles on May 10.

Online applications opened Thursday on SM Entertainment's audition's website. Anyone born between 2005 and 2015 can apply, regardless of their nationality.

BY YOON SO-YEON [yoon.soyeon@joongang.co.kr]