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Unlike the flashier compositional styles of some of his peers, JANG Young-gyu, who is the most prolific person on this list with around 60 feature credits, has built a reputation as a meticulous professional who works closely in concert with filmmakers to develop soundtracks that match the characters on screen or can even advance in tandem with the diegetic sound design of certain scenes. Submitted to a blind test, even fans of his work may have a hard time recognizing his music, which is precisely why he has become such a prized commodity among filmmakers, such as CHOI Dong-hoon, YEON Sang-ho and LEE Kyoung-mi, who value his dedication to the craft and refusal to place his own stamp on scores.

A DJ and musician who got his start in film on JANG Sun-woo’s Timeless, Bottomless in the late 1990s as well as the remaining two films from the director, DALPALAN was one of the artists who helped push the boundaries of what could be done with Korean film soundtracks. Modern rhythms, which span rock music and samples, abound in his work. While in demand in the mainstream, DALPALAN’s experimental nature has led him to seek work in the indie field as well, which included collaborating with Hong Sangsoo last year on Yourself and Yours (2016). 

*In addition to their solo outings as film composers, JANG Young-gyu and DALPALAN have collaborated on over 20 mainstream films, creating one of the broadest and most successful musical outputs in Korean film. Their shared credits include the smash hits The Thieves (2012), Assassination (2015) and THE WAILING (2016).

 

With a feature film career that only dates back to KIM Jee-woon’s I Saw The Devil in 2010, Mowg is the newest face on this list but it didn’t take long for him to take his place alongside the leaders of the Korean film music scene. After working for many years as a session player for various musicians in America, Mowg entered the film scene relatively late but has brought with him a broad array of styles, which include Latin American influences and a stronger emphasis on bass and percussion than many of his contemporaries. A talented performer on several instruments, he will often layer several tracks of music that he has recorded himself, but is just as comfortable with an orchestra. He recently won the Best Music Award from the Asian Film Awards for KIM Jee-woon’s The Age of Shadows, one of the highest accolades received by a Korean film composer.

 

With his background as a classical guitarist, LEE Byung-woo, who has been active since YIM Soon-rye’s Three Friends (1996), has crafted a sound through his body of work that could be described as the most representative of modern Korean cinema. Switching from sensitive guitar ballads to sweeping string-led orchestral pieces, LEE has a keen ear for emotional sounds which coalesce with onscreen images to create a sense of catharsis. LEE’s most famous works include KIM Jee-woon’s A Tale Of Two Sisters and BONG Joon-ho’s works The Host and Mother (2009). He has also been awarded for his work on several historical dramas, such as E J-yong’s Untold Scandal (Best Music at the Shanghai International Film Festival in 2004) and LEE Joon-ik’s King And The Clown (Best Music at the Blue Dragon Awards in 2006).

Given that Korean cinema has been around as a global industrial force for a relatively short amount of time, it is perhaps not so surprising that many of the composers listed above have come up within the industry from modern music backgrounds, often establishing themselves as musicians in popular music fields such as rock, jazz or techno, before finding their way into the film industry. 

The bass guitar seems to be a particular instrument of choice, as both Mowg and DALPALAN established themselves in the music industry as bass players, as did SHIN Byung-ha, one of the most important Korean film composers of the 1980s and 1990s who worked with IM Kwon-taek among others and who was the first recipient of the Jecheon Film Music Honorary Award from the Jecheon International Music & Film Festival in 2006.

Not to say that the industry is in any way lacking in the more classical orchestral scores that dominate commercial cinema, but younger, more flexible composers have afforded Korean films a wider palette of moods and emotions.