ABSTRACT
The powerful and persistent demand of the Korean people for democracy in the 1980s gave an impetus to revolution and reform and inspired people to combine the quest for social justice with the search for an awareness of each individual’s relationship to the explosive social history of their nation. The monochromatic military culture that characterized the beginning of the decade was by its end transformed into colorful diversity in every aspect of life. In search of national identity, writers turned to traditional Korean folk culture, attempting to find confirmation of the sensitivity of the Korean mind on the one hand and the Korean spirit of resistance on the other. The surging popularity of movement songs even affected the Korean classical music world. One major change in the Korean music scene in the eighties was the emergence of an interest in national music. Korean drama in the eighties reflected the dazzling changes and tumultuous reality of contemporary society.
