Members from South Korean girlband GFriend perform during The Show in Seoul. [Photo/Reuters]

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.

K-pop is the rage in Asia, especially in China and Japan, and the industry is eyeing new audiences in the West.

The trainees who survive and make it to the top reap the benefit of adulation by fans and stadium crowds.

Overseas sales revenues garnered by the "Korean Wave" pop culture industry, which includes music and TV dramas, nearly doubled to $730 million in 2013 in just five years, Bank of Korea data shows.