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It was early 1990s that ‘Karaoke’ flowed from Japan and was settled as ‘No-rae-bang (Korean karaoke literally meaning singing room). There had already been a type of bar where a band plays music for customers who want to sing and drink, but nothing was as influential as ‘No-rae-bang’, which totally shook the Korean culture. As soon as no-rae-bang was introduced, it overwhelmed everything and took up the center of Korean merrymaking culture. Accordingly, Korean cinema world acted fast to adopt no-rae-bang in films. There is no clear record about when it started, but the first one to perform at a no-rae-bang it is assumed to be KANG Soo-yeon, who won the Best Actress award at the Venice Film Festival with IM Kwon-taek’s The Surrogate Woman (1986), passionately sang ‘Mi-wo-yo (I Hate You)’ of SHIM Su-bong in Blue In You (1992) directed by LEE Hyeon-seung.

Once no-rae-bang was used in a movie, it became a useful space to develop the story and promote relationships between characters in a film. First, characters disclose emotions there. The one who showed the best emotional disclosure scene is PARK Joong-hoon, who has been to Hollywood with The Truth about Charlie. He fascinated people around him by singing ‘Nam-haeng-yeol-cha (Southbound Train)’ in The Rules of the Game (1995). The following year, he sang ‘Na-neunMun-je Eop-seo (I’m Okay)’ and lively danced along it to express the excitement of obtaining a big amount of money in Millions In My Account (1995). JEON Do-yeon of Secret Sunshine should be mentioned as well. She was cute when singing Cool’s ‘Un-myeong (Destiny)’ in No Blood No Tears (2002) by RYOO Seung-wan and was voluptuous when singing ‘O-ppa (My Man)’ of WAX to tempt naïve HWANG Jung-min in You Are My Sunshine (2005). When SONG Yun-a sang KANG Ae-ri-ja’s‘Bun-hong Lipstick (Pink Lipstick)’ in Jail Breakers (2002), she stimulated viewers’ emotions with cheap yet captivating charm.

At other times, no-rae-bang is an extremely lonesome place. KIM Ju-hyeok couldn’t be more melancholy when he sang ‘Se-wo-ri Ga-myeon (As Time Passes)’ in When Romance Meets Destiny (2005). SONG Kang-ho disturbs a woman he has crush on whenever she wants to sing, but he is restrained by his boss in The Foul King (2000). KIM Eui-sung sings KIM Hyeon-sik’s‘ Nae Sa-rang NaeGyeo-te (Stay around Me My Love)’ in The Day A Pig Fell Into A Well (1995), but no one listens. OH Ji-hye sings ‘I-reo-beo-rin U-san (Lost Umbrella)’ recalling the past in Waikiki Brothers (2001).

No-rae-bang can also be a space densely packed with intense emotions. YOO Oh-seong achieved to make a great scene by singing ‘My Way’ for friends in Friend (2001). SEOL Kyung-gu sang KIM Su-cheol’s ‘Nae-il (Tomorrow)’desperately as if he had had no future in A Peppermint Candy (2000). The last part of A Dirty Carnival (2006) directed by Yu Ha is one of the most impressive no-rae-bang scene. After a series of betrayal ended, the dead and the alive were decided. Then the crafty boss acted by CHUN Ho-jin picked up a microphone. What he chose to sing was ‘Old and Wise’ by The Allen Parsons Project. The song containing remorse about the bygone time quietly ran on the vice world.