Korean Music

Korea has its own pop industry with native singers. Many of the Korean pop stars and pop groups are well-known in East Asia and other parts of Asia.

Korean pop often emulates American pop music and usually features young, attractive performers. It is a highly profitable industry, and in 2004, the 17 year old singer BoA earned a US $9 million profit in a single tour.

The emergence of the group Seo Taiji and Boys in 1992 marked a turning point for Korean popular music, as the group incorporated elements of American popular music genres of rap, rock and techno into its music.The tremendous success of Seo Tiji and Boys in Korea and such similarly experimental groups as Panic set the trend for the present generation of K-pop groups and artists.

Following Seo Taiji and Boys, dance-oriented acts were dominant in the Korean popular music scene of the 1990s. Recently, rock music has made some headway into the mainstream, with such acts like Yoon Do-hyun Band gaining national recognition.

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Seven (www.english.kbs.co.kr)

Park Ji Yoon (www.southcn.com)