Punk show supports marriage for all

Tom Rainey-Smith and family pose for a family portrait during the "doljanchi" (first birthday) of their youngest child. Before they move away to New Zealand, Rainey-Smith is throwing one last punk show to raise funds for Marriage for All Korea. Courtesy of Tom Rainey-Smith

By Jon Dunbar

The legendary Seoul punk venue Skunk, recently reopened in eastern Sindang-dong, and is hosting a benefit show this Saturday for the Marriage for All Korea cause. It will feature the bands Drinking Boys and Girls Choir, DeadButtons, Dead Chant and Smoking Goose, as well as solo performances by folk musician Seth Mountain and the venue owner Won Jong-hee, going by the stage name Jonny Ruckus.

It's a worthy cause and a fine lineup, but the show hides an extra meaningful impetus: it's a farewell party. Tom Rainey-Smith, who goes by the nickname Tom Raging Smith on social media, is moving with his family back to his homeland, New Zealand.

"We're leaving the week after the show!" Raging-Smith told The Korea Times. "In fact, we have to leave our house the morning after the show, so I'll have to try not to party too hard."

He emphasized his commitment to staying in the background for this show, rather than making it all about himself.

"A couple of friends put the idea in my head to put on a show. But instead of putting the emphasis on the farewell part, we decided to do it for a good cause," he said. "I haven't organized a show since 2013 or 2014 when I put on fundraisers for the anti-base community in Gangjeong and for Palestine Peace and Solidarity, so I'm rusty. But Jong-hee of Skunk has been really helpful."

Half of the door sales will go to the cause and the other half is for the bands.

It's worth noting that Rainey-Smith will not be performing at his own show.

"I've jammed a bit here with friends, but nothing serious. Most of my band work now is at home with my two children on plastic instruments," he said.

He added that he played guitar for a pop-punk band in high school, and was the vocalist of a hardcore band called Discenter into his university days, among various other experimental metal bands.

"In any case, underground music and punk, in particular, has been a big part of my life since I was 14 or 15 and started going to shows regularly," he said.

Rainey-Smith's time in Korea began in 2006. He had initially taken an interest in its political history in school. "I'd developed an interest in the democratization struggle while studying as an undergrad back home," he said. "Learning about the people's resistance movements and in particular the Gwangju Uprising really interested me."

While living here, he has participated in many causes, movements and struggles, including Palestine Peace and Solidarity (now BDS Korea), several anti-war groups and Amnesty International. He also joined the movement against the construction of a naval base in Jeju Island's Gangjeong Village.

Tom Rainey-Smith is carried away by police during a protest against the construction of a naval base at Gangjeong Village on Jeju Island in this 2015 photo. Courtesy of Tom Rainey-Smith

He even helped found the Association for Teachers of English in Korea (ATEK), a volunteer-based nonprofit organization intended to protect the interests of foreign English teachers here.

"I love South Korea. It's my second home, my partner's country, and also the country our children were born in. When you love somewhere, you want to make it better. I think it's as simple as that," Rainey-Smith said.

"This country has one of the most militant labor movements in the world. It has a thriving civil society where disparate groups often rally together for a common cause. I remember marching down the street with a million people in downtown Seoul during the candlelit demonstrations of 2016 and 2017. There was no violence. Everyone looked out for one another. People cleaned up afterwards. It was breathtaking. And that is the South Korea I came to find."

Tom Rainey-Smith monitors riot police at Seoul National University Hospital, Sept. 28, 2016, following the death of Baek Nam-ki, a farmer who had been put into a coma months earlier by police water cannons. Courtesy of Tom Rainey-Smith

Despite all his experiences, Rainey-Smith doesn't like to characterize his activities as political.

"I wouldn't characterize the majority of the work I've done in South Korea as political, professionally or in a personal capacity," he said. "It's been about trying to improve the situation by challenging social and economic inequities and oppression where you see it."

He also eschewed any labels for his political outlook, though hinted at anarchism.

"It's unhelpful to have a political identity in my line of work. But I can say that I try to live by what I would describe as anarchist tendencies," he said. "By that I mean I think it is important to challenge all unjust political, social and economic hierarchies and power structures whenever we can. It also means trying to create the future world we want in the present. To me, that is synonymous with the basic concept of human rights."

And that's why he chose to throw a charity show for his final punk show in Korea. He dedicated seven years to campaigning for LGBTI rights for Amnesty International Korea starting in 2017, but has been part of that struggle on his own for much longer.

"The LGBTI movement here has been fighting for two decades to improve their situation and has some of the most courageous and skilled activists out of any social movement here. It has been an absolute privilege to be able to fight alongside with them," he said.

"Marriage for All Korea, the organization we are raising money for, is doing really important work. They are a coalition of groups fighting for recognition of same-sex marriage as part of the larger struggle for LGBTI rights."

It is rare to see foreign nationals get involved in domestic Korean political activism. Many would question the legality of Rainey-Smith's contributions, but he sees it otherwise.

"There is no definition of what constitutes a 'political act' under the Immigration Act, so the supposed ban is very unclear," he explained. "As a permanent resident, I can vote in local elections. I've organized many protests and would usually notify the police as the main organizer and not had any real issues. The way the law is written has a real silencing effect, though. I've had many friends who were not citizens who were terrified to exercise their basic right to freedom of assembly."

Tom Rainey-Smith poses with his two children during IT'S A FEST! at Incheon's Hanagae Beach, June 18. Courtesy of Tom Rainey-Smith

Rainey-Smith is busy preparing to relocate with his family. They plan to live in a village near the beach north of Wellington, where their eldest child is to be enrolled in a school. "The rest we still have to work out!" he said. "We'll be back every couple of years I would imagine to see family and friends."

Entry costs 25,000 won. Visit @skunk_sindang on Instagram for more information.