After 500 years of stability in Korea under the Joseon Dynasty (1392–1910), the Japanese colonial occupation (1910–1945) brought about major changes to Korean society and resulted in a significant decline in Korean culture including music. Some Japanese apologists claim that through colonisation the colonised territories would have received developmental aid and economic benefits. This instantly raises some important questions in regard to music education in Korea. If the claim of colonial development were true, Korean primary music education could also have benefited from Japanese colonisation. The aim of this thesis is to examine the key characteristics of, and changes to, Korean music education under Japanese colonial rule. To analyse the effects of colonialism on Korean primary school music education, I have examined primary sources (music textbooks and education policy documents from that period) and scrutinised the intentions of colonial Korean music education through interviews with 42 eyewitnesses who attended primary school at the time, now aged between 75 and 90 years. Interview questions were also used as a basis for the analysis of school activities with musical content at primary schools. The interviews also focused on day-to-day school life, curriculum, and the impacts of colonial education on the pupils’ later life, degree of musical acculturation, and cultural identity.