Assessment of the Regional Distribution of Multicultural Musical Pieces Included in South Korean Music Textbooks: Perspectives on Human and Economic Exchange with Foreign Countries

Objectives The aim of this study is to analyze the correlation between the geographical distribution of multicultural music pieces included in music textbooks and the geographical distribution of resident foreigners and trading partner countries, at national, regional, and continental levels. This seeks to determine whether the geographical distribution of included pieces adequately reflects the geographical distribution of human and economic exchanges. Methods Multicultural musical pieces such as folk songs, children's songs, popular music, film music, and musical theater music included in three types of elementary, middle, and high school music textbooks published by companies like Geumseong Publishing, Jihaksa, and Bisang were classified by country, region, and continent. Data on the nationalities of resident foreigners and trade data by trading partner countries were utilized as proxies for human exchange and economic exchange, respectively. The correlation between the proportion of multicultural musical pieces included in music textbooks by country, region, and continent and the proportion of resident foreigners and foreign trade by country, region, and continent was analyzed separately. Results The correlation between the distribution of included musical pieces and the distribution of resident foreigners was not statistically significant at the continental and regional levels, and at the national level, there were some statistically significant cases across textbooks, although the coefficient values were below 0.5. The correlation between the distribution of included musical pieces and foreign trade was not statistically significant at the continental level, significant cases were observed at the regional level across textbooks, and statistically significant at the national level across all textbooks, although the coefficient values were below 0.6. Conclusions Firstly, for the promotion of multicultural understanding, the proportion of included pieces should reflect both economic exchange proportions and human exchange proportions, with priority given to the latter considering its more direct impact. Secondly, it is essential to prioritize the introduction of pieces from Central Asian countries where human exchange is rapidly increasing and North African countries where there is relatively high economic exchange. Additionally, efforts should be made to increase the proportion of pieces from Southeast Asian countries, which have relatively low inclusion rates compared to their levels of human and economic exchange.