South Korean children navigate rocky road to K-pop stardom

Korean children often put up with punishing schedules in the hope of one day making it big in the music industry.

SEOL: Nine-year-old Kim Si-yoon has no time to throw tantrums. She wakes up at half-past seven for school, followed by hours of voice training, dance lessons and cram school before crashing into bed at midnight. Kim is a wannabe K-pop star.

Thousands of Korean children dream of becoming household names like rapper Psy, whose 2012 Gangnam Style video was a global YouTube hit, often putting up with punishing schedules in the hope of one day making it big in the music industry.

A new generation of younger and prettier music idols is further influencing impressionable minds, with a recent survey of pre-teens showing 21 per cent of respondents wanted to be K-pop stars when they grow up, the most popular career choice.

Kim, a third-grader at elementary school, said she recognized the sacrifices needed to realise her dream. “It is tough. So I am trying to have fun and when I make efforts, I can perform better,” she said, as she prepared to run through a sample dance routine, despite a bad cold.

Kim’s desk is decorated with photos of her favorite boy and girl bands. A microphone is propped up beside her pens and pencils, and a pink guitar rests on her bedroom wall. A treasured pair of black high heels with a white floral print lies in her closet.

Her stay-at-home mom drives Kim around Seoul each day, determined to see her own thwarted ambition of becoming a singer fulfilled by her daughter. “Competition is very intense, and there are so many good kids,” said Park Sook-hee, who spends around 700,000 won ($639) each month on Kim’s voice modulation and dance lessons.

Kim is training for auditions to get into reputed talent management companies such as YG Entertainment or SM Entertainment. Success would bring a tougher schedule, perhaps even leading her to drop out of school.

“She knows that she can’t help but work harder,” said Park.

Jang Ha-jin made it to SM Entertainment’s coveted training program a decade ago after winning a talent contest.

She stuck to a seven-day regimen for nearly three years, before giving it all up to return to a more sedate life.

Now an engineering major, Jang remembers being trapped in an energy-sapping timetable that included lessons in Chinese, since many K-pop bands were trying to make inroads into China.

Trainees had no access to mobile phones and each week, about 40 pupils were assessed on camera for their star potential. Jang constantly compared herself to her peers, and felt pressured to impress heavy-handed instructors.

Worse, there was no guarantee she would be picked for a K-pop debut.

“The most difficult part in fact was when I saw myself and felt like I didn’t grow up,” said Jang, 23, remembering her stressful teenage years. 

Published in The Express Tribune, January 25^th, 2015.

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