Singing its Way to Prosperity: Shaping the Public Mind through “Healthy Popular Music” in South Korea

• Published in: Music & politics Vol. 14; no. 1
• Main Author: Lee, Jung Min Mina
• Format: Journal Article Web Resource
• Language: English
• Published: Ann Arbor Michigan Publishing (University of Michigan Library) 2020; Ann Arbor, MI: Michigan Publishing, University of Michigan Library
• Subjects: Popular music; South Korea
• ISSN: 1938-7687; 1938-7687
• DOI: 10.3998/mp.9460447.0014.105

After seizing power in 1961, South Korea's Park Chung-Hee imposed cultural policies to mediate Korean people's everyday consumption of popular culture. For instance, a certain group of songs was banned for reasons such as crude vocalization and vulgar or dangerous lyrics, while a new type of song, called kŏnchon kungmin kayo, emerged under the government's auspices. Translated as "healthy popular song," kŏnchon kungmin kayo reflected the goals of the Park regime, such as modernization, self-reliance, and economic betterment. Throughout the 1960s, the Bureau of Public Information and the Supreme Council for National Reconstruction launched nationwide calls for songs to engage everyday Koreans in the creation of kŏnchon kungmin kayo, which was then distributed through a series of community singing campaigns named "Echoes of songs." By investigating the modes of creation, dissemination, and consumption of kŏnchon kungmin kayo and examining select songs closely, this essay reveals that the Park government promoted kŏnchon kungmin kayo mainly by encouraging civilian participation during the 1960s, drawing a clear distinction to the punitive enforcement and regulation of popular music after the enactment of the Yusin constitution in 1972. This essay further suggests that, because the initial development of kŏnchon kungmin kayowas gradual and civilian-oriented, the implementation ofkŏnchon kungmin kayo was doctrinaire but also effective in increasing the morale of Koreans during the pre-Yusin Park era.