Korean puppet theatre founded in 1962 in Seoul by Cho Yong-su (Jo Yong-su) for the television station KBS-TV (Korean Broadcasting System). Cho worked closely with his brother Cho Yong-suk (Jo Yong-seok), the current director. “Hyeondae” (or “Hyundai) means “modern”, “of today”, thus “modern puppet theatre”.

Hyundai produced the programmes Buri-Buri Baksa (Dr Buri-Buri), Jjang-gu Baksa (Dr Jjang-gu), and the educational broadcast Doing Well Myself. It also presented Nature Camp, Korea Fantasy performed in the Yeon-gang Theatre Hall, and Puppet Concert of Cho Yong-suk, The Four Seasons, Dream of Christmas, The Picture Diary of Buruno, and Return of Dr Buri-Buri at Jung-dong Theatre in 2004.

In 2005, the company presented Puppet City, a music-dance piece combining modern and traditional Korean elements in segments that ranged from jazz, to hip-hop, to traditional Korean drum dance which it toured extensively including visits to puppet festivals in Bulgaria and Greece in 2010. A related programme in 2009 was Deong Deong Gung dda Gung, the name comes from the sound of Korean drumming, and it was a collaboration with Gyeonggi Korean Traditional Music Center to introduce children to traditional Korean music.

(See Korea.)