Table Of ContentYou Call That Music?!
You Call That Music?!: Korean Popular Music Through the Generations
provides a critical overview of the history of Korean popular music from
1920 to the 2000s from the perspective of cultural history. First published in
Korean in 2017 by one of South Korea’s best-known critics, Young-mee Lee,
this book is a timely and much-needed source of information on Korean
popular music of the past hundred years.
Through this English translation, readers are able to make meaningful
connections between specific forms of Korean popular music of various
periods and the contemporaneous Korean social and political circum-
stances. Structured around the central theme of generational conflict, the
book provides readers with an accessible way to engage with Korea’s social
history and a greater understanding of how specific musical works, genres
and styles fit into that history. Its strong narrative force helps illuminate
the connections between modern Korean social history and the particular
trends of musical production and their reception through the decades.
You Call That Music?! is an invaluable resource for those researching and
studying Korean popular music specifically as well as Korea’s cultural and
social history.
Author
Young-mee Lee was born in Seoul in 1961. She received a B.A. and an
M.A. (specializing in contemporary literary criticism) in Korean Lan-
guage and Literature at Korea University. She worked as a chief researcher
at the Research Center for the Arts at Korea National University of Arts
and taught at Sungkonghoe University and Munhwa Graduate School. In
the 1980s she participated in the progressive drama and music movement,
a sector of the democratization movement in South Korea. Her work, Sto-
ries of Songs (1993) deals with the history of minjung music and momen-
tous songs that contributed to socio-political changes. Characteristics of the
Madang Theater Form (2002) chronicles the aesthetics of the madang (‘open
air’) theater, a unique genre active in the 1980s minjung movement. From
the 1990s to the present, Lee has been considered THE pioneer in the field
of Korean popular art. History of Korean Popular Music (1998) is the first
comprehensive academic treatment of the subject. She has one English publi-
cation, “The Beginning of Korean Pop: Popular Music During the Japanese
Occupation Era (1910–45)” in K. Howard ed. Korean Pop Music: Riding the
Wave (2006). Her numerous publications include Understanding Korean Pop-
ular Art Through the Lens of Melodramatic Sentimentality (2016) that cov-
ers the eight decades of twentieth-c entury popular arts, novels, plays, songs,
films, comics, and TV and radio dramas. The book received two prestigious
awards, “Chihoon Academic Achievement Award,” and “Nojeong Prize.”
In addition to her scholarly achievements, she is also known for her media
presence through her popular radio shows on Korea Broadcasting Station
(KBS), Munhwa Broadcasting Station (MBC), Christian Broadcasting Sta-
tion (CBS), Buddhist Broadcasting Station (BBS), and Gugak Broadcasting.
Translators
Young-mee Yu Cho is Associate Professor of Korean Language at Rutgers,
The State University of New Jersey and one of the authors of the most pop-
ular Korean language textbook series, Integrated Korean: Beginning 1, 2, and
Intermediate Korean 1, 2 (1999–2020), as well as the most recent two-volume
textbook for Korean heritage learners, Integrated Korean: Accelerated 1, 2
(2020–2021). With S. Yang, she compiled a bilingual book, entitled Korean
Photographs in the William Elliot Griffis Collection (2019) and published
Teaching Korean as a Foreign Language: Theories and Practices (2021). Cur-
rently, she serves as Director of the new Korean English Translation & Inter-
preting Certification Program she had developed at Rutgers University. In
addition, she teaches Korean popular culture courses (Korean Media Trans-
lation, Korean Hip-Hop: A New Poetic Intervention, and From Sijo to K-Pop:
Song Lyrics as a Literary Genre).
Brandon J. Park is a writer, copy editor, teacher, and translator. He was awarded
the Literature Translation Institute of Korea Translation & Publication Grant
in 2019 and published three independent art books through Amazon’s Kindle
Direct Publishing Services. Since 2019, Park has been teaching Korean Cin-
ema and Global East Asia as lecturer in the Department of Asian Language
and Cultures at Rutgers University. He now works as an Assistant Language
Teacher (ALT) at Naha Kokusai Senior High School in Okinawa, Japan.
Jean Yoon is a writer, researcher, and translator. They recently completed a
Fulbright Fellowship in Seoul, South Korea, where they developed original
writing and performance work on motherhood, displacement, and mem-
ory. Yoon’s experience spans publishing, service, teaching, development, and
design. They studied linguistics, anthropology, creative writing, and perfor-
mance at the University of Notre Dame and Reed College.
You Call That Music?!
Korean Popular Music Through
the Generations
Young-mee Lee
Translated by Young-mee Yu Cho,
Brandon J. Park and Jean Yoon
First published in English 2022
by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
The original Korean language edition © 2017 Young-mee Lee
This English translation © 2022 Young-mee Yu Cho, Brandon J. Park and
Jean Yoon
The right of Young-mee Lee to be identified as author of this work has
been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means,
now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording,
or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the publishers.
Authorised translation from the Korean language edition first published
by Sechang Publishing Company 2017.
Translated by Young-mee Yu Cho, Brandon J. Park and Jean Yoon
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Yi, Yŏng-mi, 1961- author. | Yu Cho, Young-Mee, translator. |
Yoon, Jean, translator. | Park, Brandon J, translator.
Title: You call that music?! : Korean popular music through the generations /
Lee Young-Mee ; translated by Young-Mee Yu Cho, Brandon J Park, and
Jean Yoon.
Description: [1.] | Abingdon, Oxon ; New York : Routledge, 2022. | Includes
bibliographical references and index. | Identifiers: LCCN 2021057814
(print) | LCCN 2021057815 (ebook) | ISBN 9781032149011 (hardback) |
ISBN 9781032149028 (paperback) | ISBN 9781003241652 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Popular music–Korea–History and criticism. | Popular
music–Social aspects–Korea–History. | Conflict of generations–Korea.
Classification: LCC ML3502.K7 Y5613 2022 (print) | LCC ML3502.K7 (ebook) |
DDC 781.6309519–dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021057814
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021057815
ISBN: 978-1-032-14901-1 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-032-14902-8 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-24165-2 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003241652
Typeset in Times New Roman
by KnowledgeWorks Global Ltd.
Contents
Foreword ix
Introduction xii
Author’s Preface xvi
1 Generational Unity: Cause for Celebration? 1
Songs the Whole Family Can Enjoy 1
Generational Conflicts Promote Creativity! 2
The Ebb and Flow of Generational Conflict 3
Notes 4
Reference 4
2 Grownups in the 1930s: Shocked by the New Pop Music 5
What’s Your Groupchat Profile Pic? 5
When Did Koreans Start Making Pop Music? 6
The New Trends Appall the Adults 7
How Old Was the Generation that Disliked Trot? 9
Super Junior on Gayo Stage? 10
Notes 11
References 14
3 Was Trot Really for Teens? 15
Grownups Disliked Trot 15
Trot and Enka 17
It’s Greek to Me: Grownups and the New Music 18
The Generation Educated in Japanese 19
Twenty-somethings: A Subversive Force in the Popular
Arts 21
vi Contents
New and Refined Trot to Share with Young People in
Tokyo 22
Notes 23
References 24
4 Mambo Dancing in Mambo Pants: In the Aftermath
of the Korean War 25
The Trot Generation Grows Old 25
Trot Eases Generational Conflicts 26
The Infiltration of “Vulgar” Music 28
Mambo Fever Brings Mambo Pants 29
“Après-Girls” and “Madame Freedom” 31
Middle-Aged People Swept Up in Postwar Fashions 32
Notes 32
References 33
5 American Standard Pop Patches Up Generational
Differences: The Early 1960s 34
Is “Odong-dong Ballad” Really Less Vulgar Than “Yellow
Shirt”? 34
The Scales Tip Toward Standard Pop 36
Could “Yellow Shirt” Be an International Hit? 37
Standard Pop: Modern, but not Decadent 39
Note 40
References 40
6 The Late 1960s: The Period of Easing Generational
Conflict 41
The Age of Standard Pop 41
Youthful, but Still Familiar 42
Standard Pop: Wholesome and Modern 43
Notes 44
Reference 44
7 Trot Lifts the Spirits—But Wait, Is It Japanese?! 45
Singing Japanese Songs on Independence Day? 45
The Remnants of Japanese Imperialism, Trot, and the 1965
Korea-Japan Treaty 47
Contents vii
Why Did the Middle-Aged Trot Generation Accept Standard
Pop? 47
Does the Younger Generation Have “Superior” Taste? 49
References 50
8 The Explosion of Generational Conflict: Youth Culture 51
A New Kind of Youth: Cheongchun vs. Cheongnyeon 51
The “Strong” Generation Becomes Middle-Aged 54
An Even “Stronger” Generation Comes of Age 57
Being a Student: A New Youth Identity 59
Notes 60
References 61
9 Decadent Acoustic Guitars and “Backwards”
Ppongjjak Collide 62
1971: A Pivotal Moment for Folk 62
“Wearing a Flower Ring” Corrupts Young Girls? 63
Unfounded Fears about Folk 66
“Backwards” Ppongjjak: Why Pponjjak Was Considered
“Backwards” 67
Anti-Folk: The Fear of Corrupting Students 71
Notes 73
References 75
10 Cho Yong-pil Brings Generations Together 76
A Fusion of Trot and Rock? 76
Cho Yong-pil, a Superstar for All Ages 77
The Fusion of New Rock and Good Old Standard Pop 79
Raise That Familiar Melody an Octave and Shout It! 80
Notes 82
Reference 85
11 The Seoul Olympics, Globalization, and “Underground”
Music 86
Would “Morning Dew” Have Been as Popular in 1981? 86
“Underground” and Minjung Songs Go into Hiding 87
Korean Popular Music Catches Up to Sophisticated Western
Pop 89
viii Contents
Skilled Artistry and a Sense of Stability 91
Notes 92
Reference 95
12 The 1990s: The Era of Seo Taiji and Generational
Conflict 96
Everyone’s Talking About “the Generation” Again 96
The “Apgujeong Orange Youth” Emerges as the New
Generation 97
What on Earth Is a Rock Café? 98
Hard to Dance Hip-Hop if You’re Over Thirty 101
Notes 103
References 104
13 Reversal, Resistance, and …? 105
History Doesn’t Always Repeat Itself Exactly 105
Satanism in a Seo Taiji Song? 106
The Youth Refuse to Conform 108
The New Generation: Resistance and Subversion 110
Still, History Continues … 113
Notes 113
References 114
14 Epilogue: When Will an Age of Conflict Come Again? 116
The Importance of Knowing History 116
Toward Generational Harmony Again 116
When Will the Time of Generational Conflict Return? 118
Notes 119
Index 121
Foreword
Since Korean popular music rose to global popularity at the end of the
1990s, scholars and critics have enthusiastically joined the conversation
about K-Pop as a phenomenon and a genre. With the course and scope of
K-Pop changing rapidly and continuously, it has been truly exciting to gain
insights from experts in a wide range of disciplines, from ethnomusicology
and theater studies to business and political science. In the last five years of
teaching a course on Korean popular music at Duke University, my students
and I have benefited from a wealth of studies that build toward a compre-
hensive view of the ever-growing and evolving field. Among them, Young-
mee Lee’s works have been indispensable in developing my course material.
Lee’s writings often speak from within the cultural history of Korea, as
stories of the people who have sung and danced to the music of their time.
Starting with her 1984 master’s thesis on Korean popular music during the
Japanese Colonial period, she has researched and written extensively on
Korea’s modern performing arts. Her early writings concerned the pro-
gressive modern folk theater, Madangguk, and the song movements of the
1970s and 1980s, while her mid-career works focused on the histories of
Korean theater and popular music. Since the early 2000s, her research has
centered on Korean TV dramas, novels, and films. Her role as chief editor
of the six-volume Hanʼguk hyŏndae yesulsa taegye [The Compendium of the
History of Contemporary Korean Art] (1999–2005), an essential resource
for anybody whose work addresses contemporary Korean art, attests to
both the breadth of her expertise and the impact of her work in the field. As
a college student, I had been fascinated by her writings that allowed me to
sit vicariously among the audiences of folk theater, and now as a scholar and
instructor of K-Pop and Korea’s modern cultural history, I am once again
indebted to her research.
Consequently, one can imagine my disappointment at the beginning of
each semester that I could not include her works in my syllabus because
all of her writings were in Korean. Unless someone translated them into
English, my anglophone students could not read them. Now, thanks to this
translation by Professor Young-mee Yu Cho, Brandon J. Park, and Jean
