Gayageum artist Kim Do-yeon on K-pop and gugak: 'True fusion comes from deep understanding, not decoration'

When K-pop artists sprinkle bits of traditional Korean instrumentation or melodies into their music, audiences often call it“fusion.” But for Kim Do-yeon, a 34-year-old gayageum player and vocalist leading a jazz quintet in New York, the term feelsoutdated. “Fusion and crossover were meaningful once, but we’ve gone beyond that,” Kim said in an interview with The Korea Heraldon Oct. 21. “Today, music is fluid. Genres interact all the time — but real harmony only happens when artists truly unde