[INTERVIEW] Gugak seeks breakthrough with launch of music archive Posted : 2021-01-14 16:27 By Park Ji-won Listening to "gugak," or traditional Korean music, may not be familiar even to many Koreans. Since the influx of Western music after the 1950-53 Korean War, globally popular music has been enjoyed in mainstream culture while the traditional genre has only been consumed among a very small group of people. However, since the release of BTS's Suga's (August D) "Daechwita," a K-pop song sampling Korea's traditional military band music "Daechwita" in May last year, and thanks to the rising popularity of megahit promotion videos from the Korean Tourism Organization starring Leenalchi, an alternative pop band incorporating pansori (traditional singing performances and lyrics) themes, things started to change. Many saw the possibility of exploiting gugak for financial gain and growing Korea's global brand.