"Korean traditional music disappears from school education."

Traditional Korean music educators and Gugak musicians are protesting, saying that the entire Korean music is on the verge of falling out of the government's plan to revise the curriculum of elementary, middle and high schools. More than 130 organizations, including the National Korean Traditional Music Educators Association and the Korean Traditional Music Association, held a press conference in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 21st and urged the Ministry of Education to immediately stop revising the music curriculum and review the contents.

The organizations argued that the obligation to include the field of Korean traditional music in the revision to be applied to each textbook and education sites nationwide has virtually disappeared since 2024. "The proportion of Gugak in school music education rose from 3.9% in the 1950s to more than 30% in the 1990s, and terms such as Jangdan and Sigimsae (decorated sound) were specified in the curriculum in the 2000s," said Choi Heon, "According to the revision, Gugak could be 0% in elementary, middle and high school education."

Date: 2022-04-19

Reporter: 서화목