Nine-year-old Kim Si-yoon, pictured playing a toy guitar at her house in Seoul, 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 wants to be a K-pop star.

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