Dream Achieved Overcoming Disability... Lee Ji-won, First Gyeonggi Minyo Transmitter, Officially Releases Music Track

Holder of National Intangible Cultural Heritage No. 57 Gyeonggi Minyo
Releases First Mini Album 'Sasijangchun (Four Seasons of Eternal Spring)'

Lee Ji-won, the first person with developmental disabilities to become a Gyeonggi minyo (traditional folk song) inheritor, has released her first mini album.

Lee Ji-won, the first recipient of Gyeonggi folk song training among people with developmental disabilities, has released her first mini album.
[Photo by Parastar Entertainment]

On the 9th, her agency Parasta Entertainment announced that Lee Ji-won released her first mini album titled "Sasijangchun (四時長春)." The album includes tracks such as "Sinnoraetgarak" and "Gomawoyo." Although she previously released a full album "Mannam" and a digital single "Bitnago Areumdapge" together with her younger sister Lee Song-yeon under the name "Minyo Sisters," this is Lee Ji-won's first solo album.

Lee Ji-won is the first person with developmental disabilities to pass the national intangible cultural asset No. 57 Gyeonggi minyo inheritor exam.

Previously, Lee Ji-won has been actively performing on over 500 stages, including the "2023 Disabled Culture and Arts Festival" held at the Blue House helipad and Chunghugwan area, and the congratulatory performance at the "2022 Hangzhou Asian Para Games Korea Night."

Lee Ji-won's mother, Kwak Jin-sook, said, "I thought that framing my daughter Ji-won with a disability would make her unhappy, so later I realized it was necessary to help her proudly accept her disability and create opportunities to fully showcase what she is good at. Even I, as her mother, vaguely thought that developmental disabilities meant she couldn't succeed, but Ji-won's determination and efforts proved that it is possible, which taught me a lot and gave me hope."

In recognition of these contributions, Kwak received the "Honorable Parent Award for Artists" this year.

Parasta Entertainment is Korea's first agency specializing in artists with disabilities, representing about 40 disabled artists including former KBS disabled anchors Lim Hyun-woo and Choi Guk-hwa, as well as Korea's first wheelchair dance artist Kim Yong-woo. Currently, they are nurturing "S-BOYZ," a deaf idol group that sings in sign language.