National Gugak Center Publishes English Book on North Korea's Performing Arts

[Photo by National Gugak Center]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] The National Gugak Center announced on the 3rd that it has published the tenth book in the English Gugak series 'Korean Musicology Series,' titled 'Performing Arts of North Korea (Korean Musicology Series 10: Performing Arts of North Korea)'.

Since 2007, the National Gugak Center has been publishing the English Gugak book series 'Korean Musicology Series' to promote Korean traditional performing arts and provide foundational materials for international exchange and globalization. Starting with Music of Korea in 2007, the series has published a total of nine volumes covering pansori, sanjo, notation, folk songs, dance, yeonhui, ritual music, and by 2018, gageok, gasa, and sijo, distributing them to universities and research institutions worldwide.

The newly published 'Performing Arts of North Korea' is the first English introductory book dealing with North Korean performing arts. It introduces the current research on North Korean arts by Korean academia to overseas audiences, thereby enhancing understanding of North Korean performing arts.

The book is composed of six chapters. Each chapter covers the overall characteristics and classification of North Korean performing arts (Jeon Young-seon, HK Research Professor at Konkuk University Unification Humanities Research Group), literary theory (Kim Seong-su, Professor at Sungkyunkwan University), vocal music (Go Sang-mi, Representative of Jeonggadan Ari), instrumental music (Bae In-gyo, Academic Research Professor at Korea Performing Arts Research Institute, Gyeongin National University of Education), dance (Kim Chae-won, Director of Dance Culture Comparative Research Institute), and opera (Cheon Hyun-sik, Researcher at the National Gugak Center).

Professor Keith Howard of SOAS University of London (School of Oriental and African Studies) and Kim Hee-seon, Head of the Gugak Research Office at the National Gugak Center, participated as editors to enhance the book's quality. Professor Howard majored in Western music and cultural anthropology and has been researching Korean traditional music since 1981, consistently studying North Korean performing arts and publishing research books on North Korea.

The publication is available in PDF format under Academic Research in the Research/Resources section on the National Gugak Center website.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.