How Rock 'N' Roll Gave Birth to K-Pop

What's not to love about energetic rhythms and vibrant soundscapes associated with Korean pop music today? However, it is necessary to remember the decades of colonization and foreign occupation that transformed the sound of Korean traditional music along with its national identity into the modern Korea. The two main influences on Korean music include the Japanese colonization during the first half of the twentieth century and the American occupation during the 1950s and 1960s. While the Japanese had control over music production, distribution, and enforced cultural censorship during the colonial era in hopes to assimilate Korean into Japanese society, I would like to argue that American rock ‘n’ roll had a more profound impact in forging the style of K-pop that fans love dearly today.

While Korea’s colonial era lasted from 1910-1945, Japan’s greatest influence on Korean music began in the latter half of the 1920’s, when the broadcasting and record industries took off. During this time the largest media companies were owned by the Japanese which were used to promote Japanese culture such as broadcasting Japanese programs and selling Japanese music. With the addition of censorship of what is taught in schools, shown in theatres, and what types of music that could be produced, the Japanese government had the power to suppress the flow of traditional Korean cultural products (Maliangkay 2007, 61-63). Changes in how people consumed media also contributed to the demise of Korean traditional music. Records, introduced by foreign private media businesses, gained massive popularity for its longevity and novelty. The maximum lengths of records were 3-4 minutes which was far too short for traditional music formats like pansori and sanjo. The geographical barrier of recording studios being in Japan was also a factor. However, these Japanese companies were for-profit businesses and were driven by the music demands of Korean people (68). Despite the government censorship, Japanese-owned media industries reshaped how and what types music was spread, but never fundamentally changed the tastes of Korean music consumers.

On the other hand, the American Forces Korea Network (AFKN), a radio station that broadcasted top hits in the United States to boost the morale of American soldiers in Korea, introduced American rock ‘n’ roll music to Korea and inspired a new wave of performers. Songs by Elvis Presley and other stars of the 1950’s and 1960’s quickly gained popularity in the Korean students with their “individualism, energetic movement, expressiveness, and the use of a foreign language” (Maliangkay 2006, 23). This led to the younger generation of performers adopting techniques like western vibrato, using a wide range of western supporting instruments, and emphasizing beat structures (24). The influence of rock ‘n’ roll affected not only the soundscape, but also the performance of popular music in Korea. Entertainment shows for US military personnel – Mip’algun sho (American Eighth Army Shows) – gave rise to group ensembles like the Kimchis, the Idiots, and the Kim Sisters, whom can be viewed as the pioneers for the “standard” ensembles in modern K-pop. Their lively performances filled with dancing took up the entire stage, whereas their traditional counterparts were usually static and had “frozen feet” (24).

What separates the two periods of influence is that Japan placed restrictions and other barriers in the spread of traditional popular music in hopes of assimilating Korea, but could fundamentally change the demand of music consumers; whereas during American occupation, younger Koreans willingly absorbed elements of American rock ‘n’ roll and, further fuelled by the demand of American military troops, transformed their popular music into the dance-oriented genre and ensemble performance that still persists in K-pop today.

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References

Maliangkay, Roald. "Supporting Our Boys: American Military Entertainment and Korean Pop Music in the 1950s and Early-1960s." In Korean Pop Music: Riding the Wave, edited by Keith Howard. 21-33. Folkstone: Global Oriental, 2006.

Maliangkay, Roald. “Their Masters' Voice: Korean Traditional Music SPs (Standard Play Records) under Japanese Colonial Rule.” The Journal of Music 49, no. 3 (2007): 53-74.