Gunjeon Gayo

Gunjeon Gayo is a channel dedicated to Korean music from the 60's to the 90's. The name comes from the music that the Korean government forced musicians to put on their albums. 건전 가요 means healthy or wholesome music. These propaganda tracks may have been intended to uplift the Korean people, but it was the other tracks on the album that most often provided comfort, meaning, and hope to a landscape of indefatigable change.

I come to the music with foreign ears, but a heart that is gripped by these songs. After living in the southern port city of Busan for over 10 years, I have built up a collection of Korean vinyl that I long to share with a wider audience.