K-Arts

Recent years have seen Korea’s television dramas and movies mesmerizing an international audience across the world, a phenomenon described as the “Korean wave.” Korea’s popular music or K-pop has similarly enjoyed great popularity with overseas audiences.

While all this has been going on, Korea’s classical musicians, artists, and authors have been every bit as active on the world’s stages as the K-pop singers and movie stars, in their respective fields.

Popular culture might have had a hard time flourishing without a foundation in so-called “pure art” that traces a long history. It is pure art that provides the roots, and solid roots lead to richer and sweeter fruits of popular culture.

The K-Arts section was designed to provide a glimpse into the Korean literature, fine arts, and classical music scenes.


In K-Classics, you may find an introduction to the Korean classical music world that has grown tremendously over a very short period.

It invites you to take a look back at the history of Western music in Korea, glimpsing how classical music set down roots in Korea over the brief period of a century. The section will also illustrate how the second generation of Korea’s up-and-coming classical musicians ventures onto the world’s stage, winning acclaim from concert audiences and awards at prestigious international competitions.

Korean contemporary art is making a name for itself abroad. Starting with the works of pioneers like video artist Paik Nam-june (Nam June Paik) to other modern artists whose works are now receiving recognition on the international stage, there are a number of artists gaining attention overseas. The art galleries and museums are burgeoning as well, together with its market, auctions, and biennales.

K-Fine Arts will be a guide to Korea's budding talent in contemporary arts, with new ideas in not only paintings and sculptures.

It will likely come as no surprise that the events and elements commonly identified as decisive features of modern Korean history have also shaped the narrative landscapes of the country’s best-known contemporary novels. Partition, industrialization, and the rapidly changing social norms and values of the past half-century form the backdrop against which have emerged some of the most unique voices in modern Korean fiction.

In K-Literature, deeper thoughts on Korea will be revealed through an introduction to the world of Korean literature, with a focus on modern literature, written in Hangeul, or the Korean alphabet.

For more information on traditional arts, go to About Korea > Culture and Arts on Korea.net, or click here: http://www.korea.net/AboutKorea/Culture-and-the-Arts/Fine-Arts.