This paper is an ethnomusicological study of composer Kim Chung-Gil, interpreting various analyses and critics regarding his music and philosophy. Examining them, we can find that composers tended to focus on tonal materials and structures adopted in his composition, and that music theorists primarily talked about his perspectives on music. English ethnomusicologist Andrew Killick tried to connect Kim's music to the Korean nationalism prevalent in the 1980s, analysing how Kim incorporated traditional Korean musical elements and environment to develop his own contemporary Korean music. Meanwhile, the composer himself always actively verbalized his opinions about his music and contemporary Korean music. Giving a voice to these various interpretations, this ethnomusicological study is geared to a polyphonic writing on the multi-layered concepts of a person who dedicated his life to develop a true Korean contemporary music. This research will hopefully be linked to a cultural discourse in regards to contemporary Korean music in general.

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