Kim Min-ki (; born March 31, 1951) is a South Korean singer,

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

, and

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

. He is best known for his 1970 song, "Morning Dew," and for his 1994 Korean adaptation of the German musical, ''

Linie 1 ''Linie 1'' is the second-most successful German musical after Bertolt Brecht’s Threepenny Opera. The title refers to Berlin's subway line U1. The musical was first performed by the ensemble of the GRIPS-Theater on 30 April 1986. In October 2 ...

''.

Early life and education

Kim was born on March 31, 1951, the youngest of 10 children, in Iri (present-day

Iksan Iksan ( ko, 익산; ) is a city and major railway junction in North Jeolla Province, (commonly transliterated as Jeollabuk-do or Chollabuk-do) South Korea. The city center and railway junction was formerly called "Iri" (), but merged with Iksan C ...

), North Jeolla Provence, South Korea. His family moved to

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

in 1963, and he enrolled in

Seoul National University Seoul National University (SNU; ) is a national public research university located in Seoul, South Korea. Founded in 1946, Seoul National University is largely considered the most prestigious university in South Korea; it is one of the three "S ...

to study fine arts in 1969.

Career

Kim first came to prominence as the composer of the tune "Achim Isul" ( ko, "아침 이슬", literally "Morning dew"), which was written in 1970 and performed by Korean

folk singer Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be c ...

Yang Hee-eun Yang Hee-eun (; born August 13, 1952) is a South Korean singer and songwriter. Her syndicated radio show ''Women Era'' has aired via the MBC Standard FM since 1999. Awards and honors References External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Yang, ...

. The song was a major pop music hit in Korea in the 70s, and Kim became a prominent figure in blending Korean folk and pop musics, as well as an outspoken political activist and representative of

youth culture Youth culture refers to the societal norms of children, adolescents, and young adults. Specifically, it comprises the processes and symbolic systems that are shared by the youth and are distinct from those of adults in the community. An emphasis ...

.Provine, Hwang, and Hershaw
Korea
''The Rough Guide to World Music'', vol.2. Rough Guides, 2000, p.165. Kim's songs discussed the

Americanization Americanization or Americanisation (see American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), spelling differences) is the influence of American culture and business on other countries outside the America, United ...

Korean culture The traditional culture of Korea is the shared cultural and historical heritage of Korea and southern Manchuria before the division of Korea in 1945. Manchuria refers to the ancient geographical and historical region in Northeast Asia, includ ...

and questioned relations between North and South Korea, and his lyrical and musical style were a major influence on the genre known as Norae Undong ("Song Movement") which became popular in the 1980s. He released nine albums before 1975, at which time his music was

censored Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments ...

by the government; his albums were pulled from record stores, playing of his music over the radio or singing it in public was banned, and he was not permitted to release material under his own name.Kim Min-ki
KBS Global. Accessed September 26, 2007. He composed the music for a 1981 film, ''The Ball Shot by a Midget'', which was not permitted to be used by government censors who reviewed the film. This moratorium continued until June 26, 1987, when all restrictions on the performance of his material were lifted. During his period of censorship, Kim turned to writing plays, which began to be performed after 1987. He also formed an acting troupe, ''Hakchon'', which performs musicals he composed. His adaption of the German

rock musical A rock musical is a musical theatre work with rock music. The genre of rock musical may overlap somewhat with album musicals, concept albums and song cycles, as they sometimes tell a story through the rock music, and some album musicals and concept ...

'' was first performed in 1994 and has been given over 1,000 times in Korea, as well as being performed in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

and

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. In 2007 he received the

Goethe Medal The Goethe Medal, also known as the Goethe-Medaille, is a yearly prize given by the Goethe-Institut honoring non-Germans "who have performed outstanding service for the German language and for international cultural relations". It is an offici ...

.Die Preisträger

Goethe-Institut The Goethe-Institut (, GI, en, Goethe Institute) is a non-profit German cultural association operational worldwide with 159 institutes, promoting the study of the German language abroad and encouraging international cultural exchange and ...

(German).

Awards

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kim, Min-ki South Korean folk rock musicians South Korean songwriters South Korean composers Seoul National University alumni 1951 births Living people Recipients of the Ho-Am Prize in the Arts