Jo Yong Pil, the king of K-pop, does not make TV appearances on variety shows.      

Like a lion that will rather starve to death than feed on plants, he refuses to use any medium other than the stage where he can communicate with his music. 'The stage is where singers belong,' goes his motto. If you want to see Jo Yong Pil, you have to go to see him perform.

If the lion is the king of the wild, Jo Yong Pil is the king of K-pop. The backbone behind his shrine and respect during multiple decades has been his sincerity and purity as an artist who sings and plays music, no more or no less. With K-pop's trend toward more emphasis on idol groups as well as crossing of boundaries between music and comedy due to artists' inevitable appearances on variety shows for promotional purposes, it may be no surprise that the public is searching for artists who have not caved into the current ebb and flow of K-pop. Jo Yong Pil is that artist.

The 63-year old's first album in ten years, Hello¸ has been nothing short of amazing. Going head to head with Psy's "Gentleman," the album was released only soon after the viral dance song was sweeping across the globe, unafraid to go into battle with the most up-to-date, trendy, contemporary hit song of 2013. Initially puzzled by his bold decision, many critics experienced an 'aha' moment as they listened to his collection of upbeat rock songs that have not only withstood the passage of time by retaining his signature colors  but also evolved into something that both the young and the old find astounding.

For the parental generation, and perhaps a generation above them, of most K-pop fans today grew up listening to Jo Yong Pil in the 1970s and 80s. Similar to how the young people today have their idols, the men and women we now call dad, mom, grandpa and grandma once had their idols for whom they willingly lost their voices in frenzied concerts.

The only difference may be that Jo Yong Pil was 'the' idol as no one else came close. If we combined Girls' Generation, 2NE1, TVXQ, JYJ, 2PM, Super Junior and other favorites of one's choice, then we would have Jo Yong Pil from the 1980s. He was that big.

With Jo Yong Pil's resurgence, the generation that has for a long time accepted being called old and feeling old is now coming back to life. Their idol back once again and he is not back just to relive and revive the old memories. The young people have seen what the old have once seen and gone crazy over. As a symbolic bridge between the two generations that see a chasm in between due to many cultural reasons, Jo Yong Pil is bringing a fresh breath of life to the old and a gentle reminder of that the old are still young at heart.  

Transcending generations. Jo Yong Pil has arrived once again.