Isang Yun

Isang Yun (1917-1995) was a Korean-born composer who spent most of his working life in West Berlin and became a German citizen in 1971. Born in Korea during Japanese rule, he studied in Japan, then in Paris and in West Berlin with Boris Blacher. His music brings elements of Korean ceremonial music into the language of the European avant-garde, as in the orchestral work Réak (1966). On 17 June 1967 the South Korean secret service abducted Yun from West Berlin over alleged espionage. In Seoul he was tortured and sentenced to life imprisonment.