August 18, 2005 ㅡ Seven young women ― all ethnic Koreans from Yanbian, China ― recently created a Korean classical music group. The women are all alumni of the music college at Yanbian University and are attending graduate school at various universities in South Korea.

They have created a band called "Arirang Nangnang" and released an album under the same title.

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Born of wealthy families in the Yanbian area, the young women are accomplished in the field of music and were considered aspiring artists in the region before coming to Korea to study further.

They said that they came to Korea because they wanted to study Korean classical music in particular.

"In North Korea or Yanbian, local music plays a leading role, but in South Korea, Western music is considered more important and more people are interested in it," said Yoon Eun-hwa, who plays the janggu, a kind of hourglass-shaped drum.