Courtesy of Caleb Kim

Caleb Kim ’21 glumly sat in his level five Korean class, when professor Angela Lee-Smith asked about the lack of his usual cheerful demeanor. Kim expressed the difficulty he faced while trying to find a place in the a cappella scene at Yale. His application to Yale had largely been motivated by the school’s extensive musical offerings, but after weeks of auditions, he hadn’t been accepted into a group. 

When Lee-Smith suggested that Kim start his own a cappella group that specialized in Korean music, Kim thought that the idea was “kind of insane — especially as a first year.” However, after learning that the Korean language department had doubled offerings in level one Korean classes that year, he reconsidered. 

“Even though Korean music was becoming so popular, I realized we had no [Korean] affiliated music groups on campus,” Kim said. “I didn’t have anything else to do anyway, so I decided to just go for it.” 

In 2017, Kim founded Hangarak, a Korean music collective that last performed at the fall 2023 cultural show. On Sept. 18, the group held its first interest meeting of the year.

After weeks of composing music repertoire from scratch, running across campus to recruit members and obtaining affiliation and funding through the Asian American Cultural Center, Hangarak grew into a vibrant and active community on campus. 

The group hosted seasonal a cappella performances, joint concerts with spoken word groups like Jook Songs and annual “Pepero”-gram fundraisers on Pepero Day, or a day where individuals confess their love over chocolate snacks.

Creating covers and mashups of trending songs by popular Korean musicians such as TWICE and iKON, the group has also garnered over 5,000 views on YouTube. By the end of its first year, the group even established its own alumni songs akin to the traditions of other, older a cappella groups, singing arrangements of the folk song “Arirang,” as well as “Spring in My Hometown” by Nam Hye Seung at the end of each performance.

In 2020, however, Hangarak’s membership and activities took a hit during the COVID-19 pandemic. Their fledgling status meant that recovering from pandemic-related difficulties was a challenge.  

“A lot of the other a cappella groups had institutional roots,” Kim said. “They could take a two-year break and still have a rep, members and alumni. For us, by the time COVID-19 had run its course, a lot of us had graduated and there were like five members left who hadn’t sung for two years and had forgotten everything.”

This year, members of the Yale Korean community have made it a goal to fully restore Hangarak’s presence on campus. Led by Catherine Kwon ’26, the group has now expanded from an audition-based a cappella group to a music collective that welcomes students with little to no music experience. 

Beyond serving as a space for Korean music lovers, Kwon hopes that the group can serve as a “fun” way for Korean language students to develop their language skills outside the classroom. Currently, the space sees high interest among level one to three Korean language students.

“My goals for the group this year aren’t anything too ambitious or serious,” Kwon said. “I’m really just looking to build a small and genuine community for anyone who has an interest in Korean music.” 

Kim and Lee-Smith echoed Kwon’s sentiments, emphasizing the importance of the group’s non-audition policy in achieving this goal.

According to Kim, the group has always been “kind of scrappy,” which has only fueled his love for the club. 

“Hangarak began as a hodgepodge of people of completely different singing levels, language abilities and cultural backgrounds who came together despite our various passions and busy schedules because we all loved this one thing and just wanted to make it work,” Kim said. “Above everything else, I hope this element of the group can stay the same.” 

Joanne Lee ’26 is one such member who was attracted to the group for its no-audition policy. She expressed her pleasant surprise with the group’s immediate atmosphere of camaraderie at the interest meeting. 

Friends brought along other friends and everyone seemed “well-acquainted” with others, Lee said. 

“Even if we didn’t know each other, I loved how we could all relate to the fact that we’re learning Korean, despite our language differences,” Lee said.

This year’s first Hangarak meeting was held in Linsly-Chittenden Hall.   

Correction, Sept. 18: Due to editing errors, this story had inaccurate information on when Hangarak was founded. The story has been updated.