Japan and the United States have historically shaped Korea’s music. Korea, having been colonized by Japan, adopted music trends that were prevalent in Japan. However, once the United States established a military presence in Korea, music trends became more Western. While both the US and Japan have exerted considerable influence on Korean music, the US has contributed more to Korea’s music scene because the Korean people were more receptive to American influence.
Due to Japan’s colonization of Korea and its proximity to the Korean peninsula, Japan influenced Korean music. Pak Yong-ku, a music critic, commented on Japan’s pressure on Korean music so that “‘Korea had no choice but to swallow what must be categorized as a Japanised version of Western music” (Maliangkay 2007: 54). Because of Japan’s close ties to it’s colonized country, naturally, Japan was able to control what the people of Korea could listen to. Japan also controlled the means of production. For instance, during the colonization of Korea, “‘Singers and instrumentalists had to travel to Japan to cut their songs into plates. This, plus the pressure exerted by the occupying Japanese, inevitably had an effect on the type of song popular in Korea’” (2007: 61). Since the only way singers could get their song recorded was by traveling to Japan for Japanese companies, Japan had control over the music that was produced. Of course, entertainment companies aimed to make profits, not dominate the people of Korea. Although Japan had control over music during the colonial era, companies still considered the tastes of their Korean consumers. This influence lasted until Japan lost WWII and its control of Korea.
After the decolonization of Korea under US occupation, American music began to influence Korea. In an effort to distance itself from Japan, Korea attempted to form its own national identity. However, Korea borrowed American ideals for stability, such as the idea that “Democracy would protect people’s needs and provide essential cultural conditions that would entail significant artistic freedom and enable Koreans to compete with the West” (Maliangkay 2006: 21). In turn, these American ideas were reflected in the new opportunities for music. These opportunities were found in the ways music—especially popular music—transformed due to American influence. Often, this music was performed for American soldiers based in Korea to cater to American tastes. However, some reasons why Western pop music in Korea was so popular was because of “its emphasis on individualism, energetic movement, and expressiveness, as well as its use of a foreign language, appealed greatly to Korean students” (2006: 23). Because of this appeal, Korean audiences replicated these styles in their own music. Examples of Western influence in Korean music during this time period was how “a large number of singers began to sing with a western vibrato, to diverse backing instruments and strongly emphasized beat structures” (2006: 24). The author, Roald Maliangkay notes that Koreans viewed this new American music as exotic, and would use it as a form of escapism from the recent horrors of colonization (2006: 24). Eventually, this music would become integrated into the popular music of today.
The reason why the US had more of an influence on Korean music is that the people of Korea were more receptive to the messages of the US. Unlike Japan, who suppressed Korean culture, the US shared a music style from their homeland. While Korea had negative sentiments about Japan’s colonization, it was much more welcoming to American culture and music styles. Therefore, the US influenced Korean music more.
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. England: Global Oriental, 2006.
Maliangkay, Roald. “Their Masters’ Voice: Korean Traditional Music SPs (Standard Play Records) under Japanese Colonial Rule.” The World of Music 49, no. 3 (2007): 53-74.
I certainly agree with your claim that Korean music has definitely been more influenced by America than Japan. I believe it comes not from the simple idea that American music was more musically appealing anything like that, but rather that Koreans made the active choice not to associate themselves with anything Japanese, including music. I think you highlighted that really well in your essay when you talked about how Koreans turned to American music as stability to create their own Korean sound. And you reinforced that thought in your conclusion when you talked about how Koreans were naturally more inclined to accept American music styles. I think an interesting point you brought up in your paper was when you talked about how using American singing styles like vibrato could let Koreans experience a new sound and escape the horror of Japanese colonialism. I think that's a great way to show how music can be an emotional escape from reality.
Wow! This paper is a very interesting read. I like that you state that the US had more of a contribution to the Korean music scene due to its reception, I suppose that fact hadn’t really crossed my mind. I mean it makes sense, you have a colonized country being forced to take in Japanese music (the same people that are colonizing them) and then being able to break away from their grasp and finally trying to form a solo identity for once after decades of occupation, like what was said in a later paragraph about the American music being used as a form of escapism after the horrors of colonization, it makes sense that that music itself would be what people wanted to hear and perform.
I really liked this paper! It's interesting that you believe that American music had more of an influence on Korean music than Japanese music. Japan is way closer to Korea than America so you would think that the Japanese would influence the Koreans more than the Americans. Also, it could relate to how American street clothing has also influenced the fashion within South Korea as well. Korea took that American influence and incorporated it into their music and made it their own in a a way. I do believe that the success of the Kim Sisters within the American audience helped secure the idea that Korean music can be successful in the United States of America.
Hi Sarah. I enjoyed reading your paper! I believe that at this point in time both the US and Japan have influenced Korean music to a great extent. However, I believe the Japanese influence is felt more in the earlier makings of Korean music, and the US influence more so after the war and in modern times specifically. We can look at the r&b and hip hop elements that are all the rage in Korean music today, that being 100% influenced by the black culture of the US. It's interesting to imagine Korean style music without the impact of early Japanese recording studios and singing styles, or the American troops fondness for rock and roll or the popular sounds of the 50s.
I definitely agree with your thesis statement, Sarah, especially because Korea viewed American culture as modern, and they actually wished to integrate American culture unlike the Japanese culture that was forced upon them. Korea even catered to American audiences with acts like the Kim Sisters, and they even had Americans who were teaching Korean music teachers western notation, which western notation is not American, but it was from the influence of American that they learned the notation, but also it would be interesting to think about how maybe without the Japanese, America would not of had the influence it did, so if the Japanese colonization and their original influence did not occur, modernization and needing to separate from Japan would not of been necessary. The US military wouldn't of been in Korea for 3 years and continued to have bases there, so could that count as Japan having more influence technically?