The history of Korean popular music can be traced back to 1885 when an American missionary, Henry Appenzeller started teaching American and British folk songs at a school. These songs were called changga in Korean, and they were typically based on a popular Western melody sung with Korean lyrics. The well-known song "Oh My Darling, Clementine" was for example known as "Simcheongga".[note 1] During the Japanese rule (1910–1945) popularity of changga songs rose as Koreans tried to express their feelings against Japanese oppression through music. One of the most popular songs was "Huimangga" (희망가, The Song of Hope). The Japanese confiscated the existing changga collections and published lyrics books of their own.[26]
The first known Korean pop album was "Yi Pungjin Sewol" (This Tumultuous Time) by Park Chae-seon and Lee Ryu-saek from 1925 and contained popular songs translated from Japanese. The first pop song written by a Korean composer is thought to be "Nakhwayusu" (낙화유수, Fallen Blossoms on Running Water) sung by Lee Jeong-suk in 1929.[26] In the mid-1920s, Japanese composer Masao Koga mixed traditional Korean music with Gospel music that American Evangelists introduced in the 1870s. This type of music became known as Enka in Japan, and later in Korea as Trot (Korean: "트로트").[27][28] These songs became extremely popular.[26]
Later, in the 21st century K-pop singers rediscovered the genre of trot, for example singers like Daesung from Big Bang and several members of Super Junior produced trot singles.[29][30]