INTERVIEW Korean-American singer calls attention to tragic history of national anthem
Korean-American singer-songwriter Zoe Yungmi Blank.
By Dong Sun-hwa
“I hope people do not forget the tragedy behind national anthem,” said Zoe Yungmi Blank, a Korean-American singer-songwriter. She will sing Korea's national anthem “Aegukga” on the 100th Anniversary of Korean Independence Movement Day at the Seodaemun Prison in Seoul.
“When I sing Aegukga, I will bear in mind the background of its composer Ahn Eak-tai (1906-1965),” Blank told The Korea Times, Thursday. “I learnt he was not yet pro-Japanese and did not work for the Nazi Party when he composed the song in 1935, but later, he seemed to have succumbed to colonial power after losing hope to stand against it.”
She began digging into Ahn's background after being invited by Funday Korea Networks, an organization that promotes Korean culture, to sing the anthem for the upcoming March 1 event. She referred to the research of Lee Hae-young, a professor of international relations at Hanshin University, who published a book on Ahn titled, “The Ahn Eak-tai Case: A Study of the Symbol of the Anthem” in January.
Aegukga's composer, Ahn Eak-tai. Korea Times file
Ahn, who forged most of his career in Germany, started his pro-Japanese activities after the outbreak of the World War II in 1939, according to Lee. When Germany went to war against the Soviet Union in 1941, the Japanese Empire, which ruled Korea from 1910 to 1945, ordered its citizens to leave Europe.
But Lee claimed Ahn feared his accomplishments in Europe and the U.S. would crumble to dust if he left, so he turned to Koichi Ehara, a Japanese diplomat who was actually head of his country's spy network, for advice. Thanks to Ehara, he stayed at the diplomat's house in Berlin from 1941 to 1944 and is known to have written songs that glorified a Japanese emperor such as “Etenraku.”
During the period, Ahn conducted about 30 concerts in Germany, France, Italy and Spain. He even conducted a "Beethoven Festival" in Paris in 1944, which celebrated Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler's birthday. He also was the only Korean member of Nazi Germany's state music bureau, Lee insisted.
Hence, Lee has been demanding a new national anthem for Korea and told local media The Hankyoreh that it was pointless to talk about the March 1 Movement or 100th Anniversary of the establishment of the Korean Provisional Government without settling the issues surrounding Aegukga.
However, in a recent survey by local pollster Realmeter, more than 58 percent of 502 respondents said Ahn's Aegukga should not be replaced because his background had not been confirmed yet. Some also said the backdrop of a composer should be treated separately from his work, and that the song was already “too familiar” to people.
“Singing about the Korean Peninsula's sweeping natural landmarks on a significant day in my mother's homeland feels like coming home," Blank said. "I do not think it is my place to decide whether singing Aegukga is flat-out right or wrong, but I think people should still remember the tragic history behind it.”