K-pop
Late 1960s and 1970s: Hippie and folk influences

At the end of the 1960s Korean pop music underwent another transformation. More and more musicians were university students and graduates who were heavily influenced by American culture and lifestyle (including the hippie movement of the 1960s) and made lighthearted music unlike their predecessors, who were influenced by war and Japanese oppression. The younger generation opposed the Vietnam War as much as American hippies did, which resulted in the Korean government banning songs with more liberal lyrics. In spite of this, folk-influenced pop remained popular among the youth, and local television channel MBC organized a music contest for university students in 1977. This was the foundation of several modern music festivals. The younger generation born after the 1950s had grown up under the U.S. influence and preferred the U.S. lifestyle, giving rise to the "youth culture" which was expressed through long hair, jeans, acoustic guitars and folk music. The folk music of that time is made up of melodies sung plainly, with the singing accompanied by a guitar or two. A majority of the folk music at that time was initiated by elite university students and those who graduated from prestigious schools. Like the activists of the U.S. student movement, they turned to folk music as the preferred music of politicized youth, who staged demonstrations against the authoritarian government. In turn, the government banned folk music due to its association with the students' anti-government movements. In the 1970s, the Park Chung Hee government banned American pop music and Korean rock music for their association with sex and drugs. Shin Joong-hyun, the "godfather of Korean rock music," was imprisoned in 1975 due to a marijuana scandal. In order to bolster its anti-Japanese credentials, the government also banned trot songs because of its "Japanese style" (왜색; 倭色; waesaek) given the influence of Japanese enka songs on trot. However, President Park actually embraced trot.

One of the leading figures of the era was Hahn Dae-soo, who was raised in the United States and influenced by Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen and John Lennon. Han's song Mul jom juso (Korean: 물 좀 주소; lit. Give me water) became iconic among young people in Korea. His daring performances and unique singing style often shocked the public and later he was banned from performing in Korea. Han moved to New York City and pursued his musical career there, only returning to his home country in the 1990s. Other notable singers of the period include Song Chang-sik, Jo Young-nam, and Yang Hee-eun.

In the 1970s, DJs also started to become popular.
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