ed Conservatives should embrace pro-democracy song
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By Lee Chang-sup
Tomorrow marks the 33rd anniversary of the pro-democracy movement in Gwangju, which occurred on May 18, 1980. The government announced that the “Marching Song for the Beloved,” the anthem of the movement, will not be sung in the official pro-democracy memorial ceremony. The lyrical and evocative song has become a point of dispute between conservatives and liberals.
The song, which is in Korean, goes like this: “Our fiery pledge: that we will live our whole lives, our love, our honor, our names to the end without reserve/That we would never waver till the new day comes, though every comrade disappears and our flag alone streams on/Though time flows on, our land still knows the cries we uttered as we awoke/We have gone ahead: you who live now follow on/We have gone ahead; you who live now follow on.” (translation by Brother Anthony, emeritus professor of English language and literature at Sogang University)
Liberal novelist Hwang Seok-young and his colleague Kim Jong-ryul wrote and composed the song based on a poem written by pro-unification activist Baek Gi-wan. They composed the song in memory of Yun Sang-won, a spokesman for the pro-democracy citizens in Gwangju who was killed during military junta leader Chun Doo-hwan’s crackdown in 1980. They rehearsed the song under bedcovers in December 1980, months after the bloody crackdown. Pro-democracy fighters first sang the song in a posthumous wedding ceremony in 1980 between Yun and Park Gi-soon, a Chonnam National University national history major who died while working at a factory in 1979.
Even though Chun banned the song, the melody later became the rallying call to pro-democracy fighters, including student protestors and white-collar workers. Both conservatives and liberals nationwide chanted the song when they took to the streets in 1986-1987 for a fuller democracy in Korea. South Korea’s Red Devil supporters sang it during the 2002 FIFA World Cup finals in Korea and Japan. The song has even been translated into several languages.
However, many conservatives say people can sing the song in private but not during the official memorial ceremony. For example, former President Lee skipped the memorial ceremony in 2009-2012 because he didn’t like that the song was being played. In 2010, organizers omitted the song from the official ceremony, causing the family members of the pro-democracy victims to hold their own ceremony.
There are several reasons why some people don’t want the song to be included in the official ceremony. For example, a 53-year-old Seoulite whom I spoke to said he loves humming the song, and it evokes a bittersweet memory of his participation in the pro-democracy demonstrations in the 1980s. He said that in 1987, he was wounded by a gas canister the riot police fired during a street march calling for reintroducing a free presidential election. Like him, some conservatives regard the song as one that progressives, including the members of the United Progressive Party, sing instead of the national anthem. They see this as a kind of betrayal.
Some also oppose the song because they believe the Gwangju movement was not really pro-democracy. For example, an ultra rightist claimed in his book that the movement came about because North Korea had mobilized its spies and sympathizers in Gwangju to topple the South Korean government. He wrongly claimed these spies and sympathizers then seized the military’s weapons and set prisoners free.
Because of the controversy surrounding the song, the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs plans to compose an official song for the Gwangju memorial ceremony. However, many citizens and lawmakers such as Rep. Kim Moo-sung of the conservative Saenuri Party and a close aide to President Park Geun-hye criticized the ministry’s plan. He has said the song does not contain rebellious and anti-state phrases, and thus, there’s nothing wrong with it.
Like Kim, liberal President Roh Moo-hyun sang the song together with the people at the memorial ceremony in 2005. Likewise, in a visit Sunday to the Mangwol-dong National Cemetery in Gwangju where those killed in the uprising were buried, Rep. Moon Jae-in, the liberal presidential candidate in last December’s election, asked the National Assembly to enact a law to make the song an official part of the annual memorial ceremony.
Indeed, “Marching Song” does not contain any radical statements, unlike the French national anthem “La Marseillaise,” which goes like this: “Tyranny is against us/The bloody banner is raised!/To exterminate the tyrants/Let us march so that an impure blood will water our furrows.” Unlike Korea, however, France values cultural diversity and has adopted the revolutionary song as its national anthem. (translation by Wikipedia)
Critics of the “Marching Song” should realize that the Gwangju movement was a movement for freedom and peace. It has been recognized as such not only by the Korean government but also by international organizations, including the UNESCO and the Nobel Peace Prize Committee. In 2011, documents on the pro-democracy uprising became part of the UNESCO Memory of the World Register. These documents include citizens’ declaration statements, photos, films, records on victims’ hospitalizations and state compensation, journalists’ notes and declassified U.S. records. The comprehensive data from these documents illustrates the pro-democracy movement from beginning to end. Moreover, people like Gwangju City Mayor Kang Un-tae are advocating for the song to be part of the register as well and are working to end the ideological dispute on the song.
Opponents of the song should set their ideology aside and embrace the song and what it stands for. They should realize they can rewrite the song for their cause. For example, they could rewrite it as follows: “We can make a fiery pledge that we will live our whole lives, our love, our honor, our names to create the Second Miracle on the Han River without reserve./Koreans will never waver till a more prosperous fatherland comes./Though every comrade disappears and our flag alone streams on/Though time flows on, our land still knows the dedication Koreans made as we awoke./We have gone ahead: you who live now follow on./We have gone ahead; you who live now follow on.”
Regardless of the government’s decision, the Gwangju memorial committee should continue to use the song as an official part of the ceremony. By criticizing the song, opponents are breaking the hearts of the Gwangju victims and their families, who have helped advance Korea’s democracy.
Lee Chang-sup is the executive managing director of The Korea Times. Contact him at editorial@koreatimes.co.kr.