"Good Harvest Has Come".. Seoul Subway Transfer Music Changes After 14 Years

Park Kyunghoon's Lifestyle Gugak 'Pungnyeon' Final Selection

[Asia Economy Reporter Kiho Sung] Seoul Metro announced on the 13th that starting from the 16th until February, the background music for transfer announcement broadcasts on subway lines 1 to 8 will be sequentially changed. This change in background music for transfer announcements is the first in 14 years since the selection of composer Kim Baek-chan's "Eolssiguya" in March 2009.

The new background music for transfer announcements was provided free of charge by the National Gugak Center. From October 12 last year, a two-week public preference survey was conducted through the corporation's website, and among a total of five tracks, composer Park Kyung-hoon's "Pungnyeon" received the highest vote share of 26.53%, making it the final selection.

The final selection, "Pungnyeon," is based on the Gyeonggi folk song "Pungnyeonga." It retains the original main melody "Pungnyeoni watne, Pungnyeoni watne..." with the Gyeongtori (a characteristic of Gyeonggi region folk songs), while being reinterpreted into a modern, simple, and cheerful tune structured in 4/4 time.

Meanwhile, this is not the first time the background music for transfer announcements in the Seoul subway has been changed. In the early days of Seoul Metro, the background music for transfer announcements varied depending on the operating agency and subway line. Lines 1 to 4, operated by Seoul Metro, featured electronic sounds and whistle bird calls, while lines 5 to 8, operated by Seoul Metropolitan Rapid Transit Corporation, used the first movement of Vivaldi's Concerto "The Four Seasons," Op. 6, No. 1.

Reporter Hyung Kang aymsdream@

The familiar "Eolssiguya" was introduced and operated by Seoul Metro, which managed lines 1 to 4, in 2009 to mark the Year of Korean Tourism. With the cooperation of the National Gugak Center, it aimed to provide a good opportunity to promote Korean traditional music to both domestic and international visitors.

Subsequently, as Seoul City standardized the background music for transfer announcements across metropolitan area urban railway trains, from 2012, lines 5 to 8 also adopted "Eolssiguya" for consistency.

The beloved transfer announcement background music "Eolssiguya," which has been cherished by citizens for 14 years, will say farewell to the public at the end of January this year. The corporation stated that the change to new transfer music is intended to provide psychological comfort to customers weary from COVID-19 and to reflect changing trends.

Ahn Chang-gyu, Head of the Seoul Metro Operations Headquarters, said, "Like 'Eolssiguya,' which received much love, we expect 'Pungnyeon,' selected by citizens' votes, to become a symbol of the new subway transfer announcement background music," adding, "We will continue to strive to improve subway safety and services to provide satisfaction to citizens."

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