Korean-American professor publishes book on 'Arirang'

By Lee Haye-Ah
SEOUL, Sept. 7 (Yonhap) -- Melancholy yet powerful, the tune of the folk song
"Arirang" carries the sorrows and struggles of the Korean people across
generations and borders.
Perhaps no one feels this more acutely than 85-year-old author Lee Chung-Myun,
whose new book "Arirang: Song of Korea," introduces the origins, characteristics
and dissemination of Arirang across the globe.
In an interview with Yonhap News Agency on Monday, the professor emeritus, whose
nostalgia for his homeland persisted during 50 years abroad in Malaysia, Japan
and the United States, said he was moved to write the book because he was ashamed
of his lack of knowledge about the most popular Korean folk song in the face of
foreigners' interest.
"This may be the first book ever that introduces Arirang systematically in
English," said Lee, who went to the U.S. to teach geography at California State
University in Fresno in 1970 and moved to the University of Utah in 1972. He was
naturalized as a U.S. citizen in 1979.
The professor-turned-musicologist said Arirang originated 600 years ago in
Jeongseon County of Gangwon Province, and spread throughout the peninsula in
hundreds of variations.
To study the song in detail, Lee retired five years ago and visited several
Korean locations, including Jindo Island and the cities of Jeongsun and Milyang
-- the homes of three of the most well-known versions.
Although the song is ancient, it was not until the late 19th century that the
Bonjo Arirang, today's most popular version, rose as a national symbol out
Korea's turbulent modern history, which includes the 1910-1945 colonization of
the peninsula by Japan.
Lee's ambition to document the song's history was stretched even further after
watching a TV broadcast showing the New York Philharmonic's performance of
Arirang in Pyongyang in February last year.
"The spirit of Arirang will play a pivotal role in the reunification of Korea and
the movement towards world peace, as has been demonstrated throughout Korean
history," Lee writes in the preface.
"I feel that it is to be regretted deeply that I could not include the study of
the song of Arirang in North Korea due to the political difficulties between
South and North. However, I do hope we will be able to go to North Korea freely
to study Arirang songs there in the near future," he added.
Lee said he hopes Arirang's role as a source of vitality for Koreans living
abroad and its potential to touch the hearts of global citizens will be widely
recognized upon the publication of the book Tuesday.
"I plan to sell this book at the U.S. bookstores and through amazon.com in a bid
to promote this song internationally," he said.
ecuedy@yna.co.kr
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