Folk veteran Hwang Young-ik marks 45-year career on KBS documentary special

Folk singer Hwang Young-ik picked up a guitar in high school to comfort his mother after his father's death. That moment, four and a half decades ago, set him on a path that would define Korean folk music.

On July 11 at 11:05 PM, KBS 1TV aired Song Documentary Back to the Music Season 2 - Hwang Young-ik Edition, tracing his career from those early days through his work as a founding member of Solkae Trio (솔개 트리오) and Soriсae (소리새).

He failed an audition at a restaurant in Incheon but kept returning until he met the late Han Jung-seon (故 한정선). Together they formed Solkae Trio and released hits including Yeongeuk Jungeso (연극 중에서) and Yeoin (여인).

In 1988, a member reshuffle brought a name change to Soriсae and a new single: Geudae Geureogo Na (그대 그리고 나). The track opened with a one-minute intro and featured two key modulations—an unusual structure that composer Kim Ki-pyo (김기표) helped shape through rearrangement. It became a national hit and cemented Soriсae among Korea's top folk acts.

The decades that followed were not without cost. In 2011, stress and fatigue sent him to the emergency room three times in a single day. He left with a cardiac arrhythmia diagnosis. "It became an opportunity for me to take care of my body and live a second life," he later said. Two years later, in 2013—32 years after his debut—he released his first solo album. He called it the start of a third chapter in music.

These days he runs the YouTube channel Soriсae Hwang Young-ik TV (소리새 황영익TV), performing more than 200 to 300 requested songs live. New material and a solo concert are planned for around November.

The KBS broadcast featured Hwang performing live alongside MCs So Chan-hwi (소찬휘) and Shin Yu (신유). The setlist included Geudae Geureogo Na, Yeoin, Saranghagiro (사랑하기로), Kkochi Pineun Nare (꽃이 피는 날에는), and Georeoganda (걸어간다).

Music critic Im Jin-mo (임진모) praised him as a musician who "did not settle for the temporary popularity of one era" and kept both legendary group names alive through generational continuity.