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Music to promote Korean tourism

Korea has a sparkling image and music representing it would have a variety of colors, said Yang Bang-eun, a Korean musician in Japan.

Yang will compose music for a video clip to promote Korea overseas, a Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) project.

The 46-year-old pianist, composer and producer lives in Japan, but his nationality is South Korean.

He has made music for movies, animations and soap operas in Japan and Korea. He uses Korean traditional music in his compositions, which have been used as the official music of the Busan Asian Games in 2002, the main theme music of the KBS documentary "Ceramic" and the theme music of the MBC soap opera "Sangdo".

He recently has been working on music for Korean film master Im Kwon-taek's 100th movie "Beyond the Years".

"I've seen some video clips promoting Korea in the past, and I have always wanted to participate in making one myself. Introducing Korea, my fatherland, would be something to be proud of", Yang told reporters at the KTO building in central Seoul on Monday.

"So, when I was offered a part in the work, I was glad that I could finally do it, rather than feeling burdened or responsible", he said.

Yang's interest in Korea and Korean traditional music started nine years ago, when he first visited Korea.

He visited Jeju Island and was fascinated with the scenery. He then saw a performance of "samulnori", or Korean traditional percussion music, in Seoul.

"Although I had worked as a musician for a long time before that, I got a different inspiration from that, a feeling that traditional music flows in my veins. I wanted to express it and use it in my music in a modern way", Yang said.

The theme of the music for the tourism promotion film will be the sparkling image of Korea. Yang said he would use a variety of musical instruments to express the country's liveliness.

"I'll find a harmony between traditional rhythms and modern rhythms, between traditional instruments and modern ones", he said.

The video clip, which is now being filmed, will be completed in December in 11 languages and will be used for tourism marketing by KTO's 26 overseas offices. It is the first time that music has been such a large part of making a tourism promotion film, KTO said.

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