The purism and justification pervading in Korea after the embracement of Western music

When a foreign idea is introduced to Korea, it tends to strengthen the purism and justification after going through intense disputes. Neo-Confucianism and Catholicism are such examples. This is observed in music world too. The Western music, encountered by Koreans during the modernizing era in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, was affected by the purism resulting the dominance of Western music in Korean society. The Western music domain in Korea yielded many world-class stars opening an important classical music world. Reversely, the prevalence of Western music in Korea induced the justification of valuing Korean traditional music, which contributed in adding more significance to Korean classical music. The 21st century's Korean music world is facing an important phase that it has to overcome the purism and justification, in order to create a new music through co-operation and communication.