Note No. 5757

                                                            22 October 2002

Note to Correspondents

CONCERT TO BE HELD IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY HALL IN OBSERVANCE OF UNITED NATIONS DAY

Korean Broadcasting System Traditional Music Orchestra to Perform

In observance of United Nations Day, a concert of traditional Korean music will be held on Thursday, 24 October, at 7 p.m. in the General Assembly Hall.

Secretary-General Kofi Annan, President of the General Assembly Jan Kavan, and the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Korean Broadcasting System (KBS), Park Kwong-sang, will make opening remarks.  Nane Annan, wife of the Secretary-General, will also attend.

The concert programme consists of performances by the KBS Traditional Music Orchestra.

The Orchestra was founded in 1985 in order to popularize and modernize the traditional Korean music known as Gukak.  By arranging popular songs, sacred songs and concerts for children and broadcasting their music on radio and television programmes, the KBS Traditional Music Orchestra has been successful in expanding the audience of Gukak.  Playing music that strikes a balance between traditional and modern styles, Gukak has become popular throughout the Republic of Korea and the world.  As the top orchestra in the Republic of Korea, the KBS Traditional Music Orchestra plays Gukak as well as contemporary music at more than 60 concerts a year.  The Orchestra has performed in major cities in the United States, including New York, Washington, D.C. and Chicago.

Korean traditional music has been known by the word Gukak since the nineteenth century.  Originally derived from the Chinese and Altaic civilizations, it utilizes a unique five-tone scale that has been passed down from ancient and medieval music.  Korean traditional music is mentioned in the ancient history books of Korea, China and Japan.  Today, Korean traditional music is divided into three different styles -– sacred music, court music, and folk music.  Sacred music encompasses the music of shamanism, a native Korean religion related to gut, and the Buddhist music known as Beompae, which were both dominant on the Korean peninsula in the eighth and ninth centuries.  Court music includes forms such as Yeaminrak, Youngsan hoesang, Munmyo jaeryeak, and Jongmyo jaeryeak.  Folk music embraces the Pansori and Sanjo styles developed at the end of the nineteenth century.  All of these forms reflect the life and spirit of the Korean people throughout their 5,000-year history of performing arts.

                                    - 2 -                   Note No. 5757

                                                            22 October 2002

The concert is organized by the United Nations Department of Public Information and is sponsored by the Government of the Republic of Korea and KBS, with the support of the SK Corporation.

United Nations Day marks the anniversary of the entry into force of the United Nations Charter on 24 October 1945.

Accredited correspondents who wish to attend the concert should call

(212) 963-6934.  For further information, please call Graciela Hall at

(212) 963-6923; for media accreditation, (212) 963-6934; for United Nations television coverage, (212) 963-7650.

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