Singer Jeon's plagiarism controversy disappoints fans

Singer Jeon In-kwon performs at a candlelit rally at Gwanghwamun Square in downtown Seoul, March 11. / Korea Times file

By Kim Jae-heun

Veteran singer Jeon In-kwon’s plagiarism controversy over his hit-song “Don’t Worry, My Dear” is disappointing many fans as the rock icon has been highly respected for the sincerity and originality of his music.

Jeon, a lead singer in the legendary rock band Deulgookhwa, had been praised as a true musician who does not compromise with trends in the commercial K-pop scene. He particularly received much love as a member of Deulgookhwa that marked a new era in the Korean rock scene since the band’s debut in 1985.

However, the song at the center of the plagiarism accusation is the title track of one of Jeon’s major solo albums released in 2004.

The song was brought back into the spotlight last year, when the singer performed his music in front of over a million people participating in the candlelit demonstrations urging for the impeachment of former President Park Geun-hye. Jeon was able to sing at such an historical scene because people trusted him and respected him as a true musician.

His appearance on the political stage at Seoul’s Gwanghwamun Square has made him a singer symbolic of a renaissance.

Then, accusations were raised last Wednesday that Jeon’s “Don’t Worry, My Dear” copied German band Black Fooss’s “Drink Doch Eine Met” from the 1970s.

Jeon denied the plagiarism charge and said the similarity of the two songs was just a coincidence. Nonetheless, he went to Germany to meet the band and said he will arrange some type of copyright deal if needed.

Singer Kim Jang-hoon supported Jeon, saying that Jeon was never a person who would plagiarize.

“He only lives by his pride and he does not get inspirations from songs from abroad,” said Kim to a local daily. “He is not in a position where he is pressured to write a hit-song, so he probably wrote the song thinking about his deceased wife.”

However, culture critic Ha Jae-keun said we cannot ignore the chance of Jeon copying the song unintentionally.

“We can think of Beatles member Harrison’s My Sweet Lord, which is known to have been plagiarized subconsciously. Subconscious plagiarism works as cryptomnesia. Memories hide somewhere in your brain and you forget that it is from your real experience. Jeon could have come across some German songs while listening to various songs in the 70s,” Ha told a local daily.

“Also, if he did not acknowledge there is, at least, some small similarities between the two songs, he would have not flown to Germany. There is no need to arrange a copyright deal if he did not think the two songs were similar,” he said.