Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Park Yang-woo on Dec. 27 presses a congratulatory button at the opening ceremony for Gugak TV at the National Gugak Center in Seoul. (Heo Man-jin, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism)

By Song Baleun and Kim Minji

The country's first channel devoted to gugak (traditional Korean music) will soon be launched.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Gugak Broadcasting Foundation (GBF) on Dec. 27 announced the opening of Gugak TV on Dec. 30 to promote traditional Korean arts at the channel's opening ceremony held at the National Gugak Center in Seoul.

Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Park Yang-woo said at the ceremony, "Gugak is our precious cultural asset that contains our nation's identity."

"I hope that the opening of Gugak TV is a groundbreaking opportunity to popularize, advance and industrialize our traditional culture and gugak."

From Dec. 30, the foundation will broadcast programs such as "Let's Learn Music," which features traditional genres like pansori (one-person lyrical opera) and folk songs performed by a master singer, "Reciting Life," which highlights traditional cultural artists, and "TV Musical Scenes," which is devoted to gugak.

Gugak TV will air as channel 251 on KT's paid IPTV service Olleh TV. 
Viewers can also watch the channel online in real time on its website (https://www.gugakfm.co.kr/gugak_web/main/) and the broadcast programs will be available on Gugak TV's YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/user/gugakfm).

brightsong@korea.kr