d'Vinci
Yun I-sang
Yun was the most famous Korean composer of the 20th century, but for most of his life, he was more esteemed in the DPRK than in the ROK.
YUN I-SANG (1917-1995). Yun was the most famous Korean composer of the 20th century, but for most of his life, he was more honored in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) than in the Republic of Korea (ROK). He was born in Tongyeong, in South Gyeongsang Province. He studied Western music in Seoul and in Japan, where he was also active in Korean revolutionary groups. He was briefly imprisoned for his activities toward the end of the Japanese colonial period. After Japan's defeat, he returned to Seoul where he taught music until he won a major competition in 1955, which allowed him to study music in the Federal Republic of Germany. There he acquired an international reputation as a serialist composer, while at the same time drawing more and more on his Korean roots. However, in 1967, he and his wife, along with other South Koreans in Germany, were kidnapped by the ROK Central Intelligence Agency (KCIA; now the National Intelligence Service) and brought back to the ROK, where they were accused of spying for the DPRK. Yun was sentenced to life imprisonment, which was later reduced. Following an international outcry, including protests by the German government, he was released after two years and allowed to return to Germany.
Thereafter, Yun's music became more political and more Korean. He visited the DPRK several times, where the government provided an apartment for him. He established the Yun I-sang Music Institute in central Pyongyang, where visiting musicians perform his music. Ironically, however, a DPRK film about his capture and imprisonment, Yun Sang-min (appears in the film with this name), which appeared in
The Nation and Destiny series in 1992, in which he was shown composing a symphony in prison, did not use his music since it does not fit the prevailing view of music in the DPRK. Yun remained highly critical of the ROK government under Park Chung Hee and his successors, and for a time he became chair of the overseas headquarters of the National Alliance for the Country's Reunification, a DPRK front organization. After Kim Il Sung's death in 1994, Yun, who was ill in Germany at the time, did not immediately return to the DPRK, which led to the closure of his center for a number of years. He never returned to the ROK, where his music was banned.
After his death from pneumonia in November 1995, however, the ROK's changed political climate led to increased interest in him and his music, which is now regularly performed in the ROK. He has also been reinstated as a popular figure in the DPRK, and the institute named after him functions again. There is an annual series of concerts in his name, and a Yun I-sang Music
Festival was held in Pyongyang in 1998; it has since become a regular event. On such occasions, his music is played, but it is not otherwise performed in the DPRK. In October 2008, musicians from the North and South played his music together in the festival for the first time. His widow and daughter continue to keep an apartment in Pyongyang and are regular visitors to the DPRK. The former made her first visit to Seoul in 40 years in 2007.
All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior written permission of the publisher. (Historical Dictionary of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, by James E. Hoare, published by RLPG Books, appears by permission of the author and publisher).
Thereafter, Yun's music became more political and more Korean. He visited the DPRK several times, where the government provided an apartment for him. He established the Yun I-sang Music Institute in central Pyongyang, where visiting musicians perform his music. Ironically, however, a DPRK film about his capture and imprisonment, Yun Sang-min (appears in the film with this name), which appeared in
The Nation and Destiny series in 1992, in which he was shown composing a symphony in prison, did not use his music since it does not fit the prevailing view of music in the DPRK. Yun remained highly critical of the ROK government under Park Chung Hee and his successors, and for a time he became chair of the overseas headquarters of the National Alliance for the Country's Reunification, a DPRK front organization. After Kim Il Sung's death in 1994, Yun, who was ill in Germany at the time, did not immediately return to the DPRK, which led to the closure of his center for a number of years. He never returned to the ROK, where his music was banned.
After his death from pneumonia in November 1995, however, the ROK's changed political climate led to increased interest in him and his music, which is now regularly performed in the ROK. He has also been reinstated as a popular figure in the DPRK, and the institute named after him functions again. There is an annual series of concerts in his name, and a Yun I-sang Music
Festival was held in Pyongyang in 1998; it has since become a regular event. On such occasions, his music is played, but it is not otherwise performed in the DPRK. In October 2008, musicians from the North and South played his music together in the festival for the first time. His widow and daughter continue to keep an apartment in Pyongyang and are regular visitors to the DPRK. The former made her first visit to Seoul in 40 years in 2007.
All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior written permission of the publisher. (Historical Dictionary of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, by James E. Hoare, published by RLPG Books, appears by permission of the author and publisher).
