Yang Bang Ean - Rebirth (Official Music Video)

Yeongwol is a small city in Gangwon Province, South Korea—the place where King Danjong, the tragic monarch of the Joseon Dynasty, was exiled at the tender age of 15 and met his untimely end. In 2026, marking the 60th anniversary of the Danjong Cultural Festival, Yeongwol embarked on a special project with the world-renowned musician Yang Bang-ean (Ryo Kunihiko). Our mission was to bring his original composition to life through its official music video. We crafted a narrative where 'Danjong', the king in solitude, and 'Yi Hong-wi' (Danjong’s birth name), his contemporary alter ego, commune with each other through music. Through this, we sought to expand Korean history and sentiment into a contemporary aesthetic and demonstrate new possibilities for regional cultural content.
To achieve this goal, we reinterpreted the tragic history through a 'parallel universe' narrative. By connecting the lonely King Danjong with 'Lee Hong-wi'—another version of Danjong living in 2026 as a musician—we built a story where two beings in different times and spaces communicate through Yang Bang-ean’s music. Furthermore, we sought to transform a historical tragedy into a hopeful, bright, and beautiful narrative. Just as Yang Bang-ean created a crossover by combining traditional Korean instruments with an orchestra, we achieved a visual crossover by reinterpreting Korean traditional painting styles and Western oil painting techniques through AI animation. We infused the video with the mysterious colors of Oriental art and the sophisticated, coarse brushwork of classical masterpieces to organically link the past and the present.
As sounds of traditional Korean instruments like the taepyeongso, gayageum, and kkwaenggwari layered with violin and piano melodies, the musical narrative expanded. Within this flow that connects different eras, the texture and colors of the paintings shifted in real-time to match the rhythm and breath of the melody, creating a dramatic and beautiful mise-en-scène. The texture and sophisticated refinement of these visuals perfectly synced with Yang Bang-ean's melodies, elevating the emotional impact to its peak.