My informant is a 24-year-old foreign exchange student who was raised in South Korea his whole life.

When I first asked him to give me some Korean folklore he quickly jumped to the first thing that he could think of. He told me about a song entitled “Arirang”.

Informant: “Everybody in Korea knows this song. They play it all on the TV and in many places. It is not something that you learn in school or through book, but like it is everywhere. It is almost Korean anthem because everybody knows how to sing it. I learned it when I was really young because you hear it so much. The song is okay, maybe I don’t like it so much because I have heard so many times, but it is like Korean anthem, so I kind of have to like it”

Analysis: This piece is interesting because Korea has a song that is so popular and everyone knows the song, but it is not the official anthem of the country. The song represents pride in one’s country and when it is played it is sung like a national anthem. It is also interesting that my informant is not so fond of the song because he has heard it so many times. He even went on to tell me that the song is so popular that it is registered in UNESCO.