Jang Sa-ik didn't start his musical career in a boy band and he was never a teenage heartthrob like many other Korean pop stars. In fact he didn't release his first CD until his mid 40s. Jang is now 58 with five albums and scores of sold out concerts to his name. He's known here as Korea's quintessential pop singer

Jang and his 16-piece ensemble mix traditional Korean vocals, percussion and woodwinds with Western instruments like piano, guitar and harmonica. Jang doesn't know quite what to call his style; he likens it to go-chu-jang, a pepper paste used in many Korean dishes.

JANG: "It's hot and spicy, or it's something like garlic, that's my genre. But I really don't know what to call it."

Jang writes songs with plain, simple titles like The Traveler, Half Moon and Living Away From Home. He says Buddhist concepts of life and death influence his songwriting.

He wrote a song during a difficult time in his life called Jil Lae Goat, or Korean White Rose. Jang says the scent of the flower gave him a new appreciation for living and he remembers it every time he performs the song.

Jang kicks off a US tour in New York City at the end of this week. He'll also make stops in Chicago, Washington and Los Angeles.

Jang says he realizes that American audiences tend to stay away from music sung in foreign languages. But he doesn't think the meaning of his songs gets lost in translation.

JANG: "Music is about feeling or pain and cannot be interpreted by rational thought. We can listen to foreign pop songs and even though we don't understand it, we can feel it, we can like it. Even though I am singing in Korean, I want to show Americans the people I sing about and my love of nature. If I give it my best, I think they will understand."

Jang wants to bring solace to one particular group of Americans, Korean Americans who felt a collective sense of responsibility following the shootings at Virginia Tech earlier this year. The killer was a Korean born student

JANG: "I feel very sorry for the situation, I want to sing for the people who are suffering from the incident at Virginia Tech. For the living, music can be like shamanism. I want to comfort them and make them happy again."

Jang's American tour is entitled Longing. He says it's dedicated to those who are missing someone, whether they've been separated by an ocean or by death. He hopes his music will remind people that the hard times will pass.

For the World, I'm Jason Strother in Seoul, South Korea.