Thirteen Hour Rehearsals: The K-Pop Cost
An investigative report on underage K-pop trainees subjected to extreme rehearsal schedules, physical strain, and controlled diets inside Seoul’s idol training factories.
Thirteen Hour Rehearsals: The K-Pop Cost
In Seoul, behind mirrored walls and soundproofed studios, children train for a future they may never reach.
Long before debut stages and global fanbases, many K-pop idols begin their careers as trainees at the age of ten or younger. Their days are structured not around school or play, but around rehearsal schedules that routinely exceed twelve hours, strict dietary control, and constant evaluation. This system, often celebrated as discipline or dedication, increasingly resembles industrialized child labor wrapped in entertainment branding.
Training Begins Before Childhood Ends
Multiple investigations have documented how entertainment companies recruit trainees at elementary-school age. Once accepted, these children enter full-time training pipelines that prioritize performance readiness over development.
According to reporting by the BBC, trainees as young as ten describe daily routines involving school followed by evening rehearsals that last late into the night, sometimes until 1 or 2 a.m.
Sleep deprivation, physical exhaustion, and academic disruption are not side effects. They are built into the system.
Thirteen-Hour Days Are Not an Exception
Former trainees interviewed by Reuters and NME describe rehearsal schedules ranging from 10 to 14 hours per day, particularly in the months leading up to evaluations or debut consideration.
Training includes:
- Dance repetition until physical collapse
- Vocal practice under strain
- Language and media coaching
- Continuous body monitoring
For underage trainees, this workload would violate labor standards in most industries. In entertainment, it is normalized.
Controlled Diets and Body Surveillance
Physical control is a central feature of the idol training system.
Multiple outlets have reported on strict weight targets imposed on trainees, including minors. Diets are monitored, meals restricted, and weigh-ins conducted regularly. Some trainees report being encouraged to survive on extremely low-calorie diets during evaluation periods.
The goal is uniformity: bodies optimized for camera, choreography, and market expectations.
Education as a Secondary Concern
Although companies often claim to support schooling, many trainees report missed classes, online-only education, or complete academic abandonment during peak training periods.
The Guardian documents cases where trainees left formal education entirely to focus on training, only to be dropped years later with no qualifications and no compensation The system externalizes risk: companies lose nothing when a trainee fails. The child loses years.
Silence by Contract
Underage trainees and their families are often required to sign contracts containing:
- Non-disclosure clauses
- Financial penalty provisions for early exit
- Long-term exclusivity expectations
These contracts make it difficult for trainees to speak publicly about conditions, even years later.
While reforms have addressed some extreme cases, enforcement remains inconsistent, especially for minors.
Why the System Persists
Idol factories persist because they are efficient.
From an economic perspective, training hundreds of children and debuting only a few is cheaper than developing artists individually. The cost of failure is absorbed by families and trainees, not corporations.
This is a classic high-churn labor pipeline:
- Many entrants
- Minimal long-term obligation
- Maximum output optimization
In any other sector, this would trigger regulatory intervention.
The Human Cost Behind the Global Brand
K-pop’s global success depends on precision, endurance, and perfection. That perfection is achieved through a system that normalizes:
- Child labor
- Physical exhaustion
- Psychological pressure
- Disposable human capital
Fans see polished performances. They do not see the children rehearsing until collapse years earlier.
Conclusion: When Training Becomes Exploitation
Thirteen-hour rehearsals are not a rite of passage. They are a warning sign.
When children are subjected to industrial-scale discipline for entertainment profit, the question is no longer whether the system produces stars. It is whether the cost is acceptable.
So far, the industry’s answer has been silence.
Sources & Further Reading (Direct Links)
BBC News — “The dark side of K-pop” https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-50882865
Reuters — K-pop contracts and labor scrutiny https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/south-koreas-k-pop-industry-faces-scrutiny-over-contracts-2023-07-19/
Reuters — Korea Fair Trade Commission contract reforms https://www.reuters.com/article/us-korea-pop-contracts-idUSBREA2K02C
The Guardian — K-pop trainee exploitation https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/dec/05/k-pop-stars-trainees-exploitation
NME — Inside the K-pop trainee system https://www.nme.com/features/music-features/k-pop-trainee-system-explained-2601425
CNN — Mental health pressures in K-pop https://edition.cnn.com/2019/12/06/asia/kpop-mental-health-intl-hnk/index.html