The Power of Singing in Korean Culture

Published on APCE Advocate, Fall 2009

Paul Junggap Huh

Koreans love to sing. Singing is their favorite pastime and vividly reflected in passionate singing of hymns and praise songs for Christian worship. From the earliest days of the Korean people, singing has played a significant role in their lives. Not only in the setting of communal worship but also in most occasions of life, Koreans love to sing. They sing when they are happy as well as when they are sad. For Koreans, singing is also a vehicle of communal expression in their times of joy and sorrow in the history of their nation.

Koreans sing when political and social difficulties arise. They sang freedom songs against their oppressing rulers. Workers sang against their unjust company executives. Frequently they gathered together after work, drinking and singing popular songs in solidarity. Students and graduates gathered to sing their school theme song in unison melody. Almost every school in Korea, both public and private, has a theme song to represent the school. They sing in a loud unison to identify their solidarity with one another.

In worship settings, people sing to experience a sense of community and spiritual relationship with the divine power. In social settings, singing also promotes a sense of community. Through singing, people share common values.

Most events or TV programs in Korea are designed with a consideration for the singing practice of the Korean people, and their love for singing has flourished in all aspects of the Korean culture. A national Korean Broadcasting company runs a weekly amateur singing contest, which is a program for all ages across the different regions of the country. Both contestants and audience simply enjoy singing together regardless of winning any prize. The program visits cities and towns around the country and has became one of the most watched programs, running now for twenty-eighty years.

In addition, the Korean National TV began to air a weekly music program called, “Open Concert.” It is open in a sense that musicians of all styles including classical, popular, and Korean traditional folk music are invited to perform live on stage. The title, “Open Concert,” also implies that the audience is welcomed and encouraged to join in song with the performers and a 42 piece orchestra. The music score is distributed to the audience, helping them to join in singing together anytime. As many as 10,000 people of all ages participate in this all-time favorite program each week.

In Korea, town halls provide many cultural classes including group singing lessons. The singing class may be the most popular class provided by the government. The karaoke business also proves that Koreans are a singing people. In 1991, a commercial business called, Singing Room (Noraebang) was opened in Seoul and Pusan. Noraebang is a place where people gather and sing together with the accompaniment from a karaoke machine. Karaoke means “without orchestra” in Japanese. The lyrics are displayed on screen and recorded full accompaniment sound is provided for singers to follow. Such rooms are found throughout Korea’s large cities and small villages in the countryside, and in Korean-American communities in the United States. A night of Korean partying often includes a trip to a singing room, Noraebang.

For Koreans, singing is power. Singing gives them power to overcome difficulties of life. It builds up community and allows them to experience a sense of belonging to their community. As singing together forms solidarity and confirms cohesion of community, the values are shared and confirmed. People also share their lives through singing and they express emotions experienced from their lives such as joy, sorrow, anger, grief, depression, powerlessness, and happiness.

The same function of singing can be expected in the life of the church. In the worship of the Korean church, singing is way for the people to offer their lives and faith through raising their voices as well as praying out loud in a unison prayer called Tongsung Kido.

Unlike the U.S. education system, Koreans have music as a required course of the school curriculum from K to 12^th grade. Public and private schools teach children to sight read music, sing, music theory, and to write notations. In the curriculum, classical music, pop music, and Chang (traditional folk-style singing) are offered side by side.

The importance of this education in learning music has resulted in having both classical musicians and praise & worship musicians serving Korean churches side by side, yet their different orientation have not merged in one unison prayer. It is an unfulfilled task in Korean churches, which need to develop bringing different musical styles as acceptable form of worship of all God’s people. The zeal and passion for singing abound in Korean worshipping congregations and moves beyond the social and language boundaries witnessing the love of Christ and God’s salvation.

    To the high and kindly hills I lift my eyes;

    Where is someone to rescue me in my plight?

    Truly from the dear Lord above help will come.

    God is the maker of heav’n and earth: all is well.

                (Psalm 121 in Korean Tune)

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