He, who was born into a poor peasant family in Hamju County, South Hamgyong Province, and studied music under adversity, began composing songs before the liberation of the country, reflecting feelings of the Korean people and their sufferings from the Japanese colonial rule.

After the country's liberation (August 15, 1945) he created excellent works, including "The Glorious Motherland" (1947), "May, Month of Victory" (1947) and "Let's Go to Mountains and Seas" (1948), serving as a senior official in the musical and art field under the deep care of President Kim Il Sung.

The songs, such as "Mungyong Pass" (1950), "The 2,000-ri Amnok River" (1952), "The Dear Home in My Native Village" (1952), "Oh, Motherly Party" (1964) and "The Snow Is Falling" (1965), created by him during the Fatherland Liberation War (from June 1950 to July 1953) and later, encouraged the Korean people, including the servicepersons, to do their best in the war and socialist construction.

His fame was further enhanced in the 1970s when he devoted all his passion and wisdom to creating "The Sea of Blood"-style operas and other musical works conducive to the development of Juche-oriented music and arts under the guidance of General Secretary Kim Jong Il.

The songs in the opera "A Dream of Red Mansions" were created by him. The opera, created in Korea early in the 1960s on the basis of a Chinese novel and recreated last year, is being performed before full houses in China by the Phibada Opera Troupe of the DPRK.