KAYAKEUM

also spelled Kayagum, or Kaya Kum, musical instrument, a Korean board zither with 12 silk strings, movable bridges, and a convex upper surface. It is a rectangle about 5 feet (1.5 m) in length. Although related to similar Chinese and Japanese instruments, such as the cheng, ch'in, koto, and wagon, it is played in a distinctive Korean manner. The djunadjan is a similar, slightly smaller instrument, with 10 pairs of strings.