Before K-Pop

K-Pop

Course 1 · Chapter 2 · Before K-Pop

Chapter 1 said that "K-pop" can be read broadly, back to the 1930s. This chapter follows Korean popular song from the colonial period to the 1980s: trot, the stages of the US military bases, the folk and rock scenes of the 1960s and 70s, and the censorship that shaped them. It is the background that the 1990s breakthrough in Chapter 3 grew out of.

How this chapter was checked The facts here come from Wikipedia's articles on Trot (music), Yun Sim-deok, Korean rock, Shin Jung-hyeon (Shin Joong-hyun), Han Dae-soo and Kim Min-ki, as I read them. I read the opening and main sections of each, and no books, archives or recordings. Where the articles disagree with each other or hedge, I say so. Several figures (sales, "first" labels) are the articles' claims, with owners named.

Trot: The Colonial Roots

The article on trot (트로트, also called ppongjjak, 뽕짝) describes it as "a genre of Korean popular music, known for its use of repetitive rhythm and vocal inflections", which originated "during the Japanese occupation of Korea in the first half of the 20th century" and was "influenced by many genres of Korean, Japanese, American, and European music".

Feature	What the article says
The name	A shortened form of "foxtrot", the ballroom dance that influenced trot's simple two-beat rhythm. The article adds that, apart from the two-beat rhythm, trot and foxtrot "do not share any other notable characteristics".
The sound	Two-beat (duple) rhythm. In its early days it often used the pentatonic scale and minor keys; after the occupation it used major keys more. A singing technique called kkeokk-ki (꺾기, "flexing") ornaments the transition between notes.
The lyrics	"Love and parting" and "longing for a sweet home". The article offers two possible origins for the sad mood: the "colonial tragedy", and the older Korean tradition of deep sorrow (han, 한). It also names the "new stream" theatre (sinpa), introduced from Japan in the 1910s, as an influence.
Performance	Mostly one singer or a duet, with an orchestra or big band, backing vocalists and often dancers on television shows.

Yun Sim-deok's article says her 1926 recording "Hymn of Death" (사의 찬미) "is considered the first 'popular' (yuhaeng changga) Korean song". It was recorded in Osaka by the Japanese Nitto company, to the tune of "Waves of the Danube", and the article says it sold a record 100,000 copies after her death in 1926. Yun was a trained soprano who had turned to popular singing because she could not make a living from Western classical music.

Where the article is cautious Trot's Japanese connection is a sensitive subject, and the article says only that the genre was "influenced by" many traditions, without settling which came first. I follow that wording and make no claim about who invented what. The article's remarks on North Korea are brief, so I rely on only one fact from them: that the genre began before the division and is now mainly sung in South Korea.

The article says that after liberation and the Korean War (1950 to 1953), artists such as Lee Mi-ja, Choi Sook-ja, Bae Ho, Nam Jin, Na Hun-a and Joo Hyun-mi "helped to make trot popular". It also says that with the rise of K-pop from the 1990s, trot "lost some popularity and was viewed as more old-fashioned", and that from the 2000s younger singers renewed interest in it. So trot is not a dead ancestor: it runs alongside K-pop to this day.

The US Military Stages

The article on Korean rock says rock music reached South Korea through "U.S. soldiers fighting in the Korean War and stationing in U.S. military bases in South Korea after the war". Around the bases, local musicians "could have opportunities to learn American rock music and perform it on stage for U.S. soldiers."

Name	What the articles say
Shin Jung-hyeon (Shin Joong-hyun), born 1938	Debuted at a US military base in 1957 at age 19 under the stage name Jackie Shin, because bases were "one of the few places where South Korean musicians could find regular work". He was inspired by American music on the American Forces Korea Network radio, and later said "the U.S. military bases were where Korean rock was born." He is often called Korea's "Godfather of Rock".
The Kim Sisters	The Korean rock article says this girl group debuted on a US base stage, practised there, then started a musical career in the United States.

Group Sound and the Folk Scene

Group Sound. The Korean rock article says "Group Sound" bands emerged in the 1960s, including Key Boys, HE6, Pearl Sisters and K'okkiri Brothers, influenced by American and British rock. Unlike the base performers, they began to play for South Korean audiences.
"First rock band". Shin formed Add4 in 1962, and its first album, The Woman in the Rain, came out in 1964. The articles call Add4 "considered to be" and "the first" Korean rock band. The hedge "considered" matters, because "first" labels are often disputed.
A hit, as claimed. Shin's article says the 1968 album My Dear, which he produced for the duo The Pearl Sisters, "went on to sell more than 1 million copies". This is the article's claim, with no source visible in what I read, and I take it as such.
Folk. Kim Min-ki's article says his 1970 song "Morning Dew" (아침 이슬), performed by Yang Hee-eun, was "a major pop music hit in Korea in the 70s", and that he blended Korean folk and pop. Han Dae-soo, born in 1948 and brought up partly in New York, returned to Korea in 1968, and his songs were covered by artists including Yang Hee-eun and Kim Min-ki. His first album, Long Way, came out in 1974.
Listening at home. The Korean rock article says that from the 1970s, "the spread of the phonograph to middle-class families, the distribution of pirated foreign music, and the popularity of playing rock and pop music in music cafes" grew the number of rock fans.

Censorship

The Korean rock article says that "during the 1970s, music was heavily censored by [the] Park Chung Hee administration," and that rock and its subculture were classed as "depraved youth culture" under military administration. The cases below are reported as the articles report them, with owners.

Artist	What the articles say
Shin Jung-hyeon	In 1972, according to his article, the president's office asked him for a song praising the president. He refused and wrote the ten-minute "Beautiful Rivers and Mountains". Afterwards police confiscated his guitars and cut his long hair, which the government banned at the time. In 1975 he was arrested for marijuana possession; the article says it was "not yet illegal" at the time of his arrest, and says he was imprisoned and tortured. He was banned from performing until after Park's assassination in 1979. The article also says his music was "banned until the 1980s".
Han Dae-soo	His songs "Give Me Water", "Land of Happiness" and "Song of Hope" were banned "for overturning the system" and he was placed on a blacklist, according to his article.
Kim Min-ki	Nine albums were released before 1975, when the government censored his music. Albums were pulled from stores, radio play and public singing were banned, and he was not allowed to release material under his own name. The ban lasted, the article says, until 26 June 1987.

Two articles, two stories about Han Dae-soo The Korean rock article says Han "moved to New York in self-exile after two of his albums were banned by the government". Han's own article says he went back to New York "at the persuasion of his wife" after his songs were banned and he was blacklisted. Both agree on the bans, but they give different reasons for the move. I cannot tell from these articles which is fuller, so I say only that he returned to New York after the bans. Another difference: Shin's article says he was forbidden to perform until 1979, but that his music was "banned until the 1980s". The two statements cover different things, so check which one a claim refers to.

The Korean rock article says that in the 1980s "censorship was somewhat eased compared to the Park Chung Hee administration" and that rock came closest to the mainstream then, with heavy metal bands such as Boohwal, Sinawe and Baekdoosan prominent. It also says dance music came to dominate Korean popular music in the 1980s. How far and when the control ended is argued, and Chapter 3 returns to the changes of the early 1990s.

What This Gives K-Pop

Nothing in this chapter is "K-pop" in the narrow sense of Chapter 1. Three things, though, carry forward and are worth holding on to:

Foreign sounds, local singers. From trot's foxtrot rhythm to rock learned on US bases, Korean popular music has always been a mix of imported and local material.
A state with views on music. Control of what could be sung, worn and heard is part of the background, and Chapter 3 shows what happened when it loosened.
A gap in the record. Much of what we know about this period comes from a few artists' own accounts and from short articles. This chapter flags where they differ and does not smooth the differences over.

Exercises

Exercise 1

Describe trot in four points: where its name comes from, its rhythm, its usual lyric themes, and what the Yun Sim-deok article calls her 1926 recording. Then explain why the article is cautious about trot's Japanese connection.

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Exercise 2

Explain why US military bases mattered to Korean popular music in the 1950s. Use Shin Jung-hyeon as your example, and say what "Group Sound" was and how it differed from the base performers. Then explain why "first Korean rock band" needs a hedge.

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Exercise 3

Summarise the censorship of Shin Jung-hyeon, Han Dae-soo and Kim Min-ki in one sentence each. Then point out one place where two Wikipedia articles in this chapter differ, and say how you would handle it in your own writing.

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Quick Reference

Trot (트로트, ppongjjak): from the colonial period; name from "foxtrot"; two-beat rhythm; kkeokk-ki ornament; themes of love, parting and home
"Hymn of Death" (1926): Yun Sim-deok; called the first "popular" (yuhaeng changga) Korean song; recorded in Osaka
US bases: few places with regular work; Shin Jung-hyeon debuted on one in 1957
Group Sound: 1960s bands for Korean audiences (Key Boys, HE6, Pearl Sisters, K'okkiri Brothers)
Add4: formed 1962; first album 1964; "considered" the first Korean rock band
Folk: Kim Min-ki's "Morning Dew" (1970); Han Dae-soo's Long Way (1974)
Censorship: Shin (1972 song, 1975 arrest, performing ban to 1979); Han (songs banned, blacklisted); Kim (censored from 1975, restrictions lifted 26 June 1987)
Check: the sales figures, the "first" labels, and why Han Dae-soo went back to New York

Next chapter: Seo Taiji and Boys and the 1990s Turn, which follows the 1992 breakthrough, the arrival of hip-hop and R&B, the first idol groups and the changing rules of the music industry.