Isang Yun; Korean-Born Avant-Garde Composer

Isang Yun, 78, Korean-born avant-garde composer who was kidnaped and imprisoned by South Korea for having unauthorized contacts with the Communist north. In his youth, Yun rebelled against the Japanese occupation of Korea and soon moved to Europe, where he studied at the Paris Conservatoire and later became a German citizen. In 1967, he was kidnaped from Germany by South Korean agents, tried in Seoul, convicted of having unauthorized contacts with North Korea and imprisoned for life. But he was freed in 1969 and returned to Germany after West Germany and musicians around the world protested his treatment. Yun was admired for his more than 150 avant-garde compositions, which combined Eastern and Western sounds. His opera, “Sim Tjong,” based on a Korean legend, was premiered at the opening of the 1972 Olympics in Munich. Yun taught music at the Berlin University of the Arts. On Friday in Berlin of a lung infection.