By Xu Aiying and Hahm Hee-eun

The oldest known copy of the English-language sheet music of the Korean national anthem has been released to the public.

On April 10, the Museum of Korean American Heritage (MOKAH) in New York announced that it would permanently preserve the piece of sheet music, published in 1944, that was composed by Ahn Eaktai (1906-1965).

The cover of the music book has the title, “Korean National Anthem,” the description, “Music by Eaktai Ahn,” and then has “Published by John Starr Kim, Korean Church and Institute” in blue letters. At the time, John Starr Kim was also known as Pastor Kim Jun-seong of the Korean Methodist Church & Institute in New York.

On page two and three, there's the sheet music for the anthem with Romanized Korean lyrics. It notes that the lyrics were transliterated by John Starr Kim, and that he only did the first two verses.

The music was in the possession of Pastor Kim Geun-young in Long Island. The Korean American Association of Greater New York said that he donated the sheet music to the Museum of Korean American Heritage.

Pastor Kim said, "My brother-in-law knew Ahn Eaktai in person, and he has been keeping it for a long time. I donated the music to preserve it as a national asset.”

Other versions of Ahn Eaktai’s historic sheet music have also been found abroad. The oldest Korean language version was published by the Korean American Church in Chicago in 1935, and a traditional Chinese version was issued by the Korean Provisional Government in Shanghai in 1945.


xuaiy@korea.kr