Jeju-based artists, migrant workers team up to back pro-democracy rallies in Myanmar

One of the demonstrators holds up the three-fingered salute during the "Global Protest Revolution Day for Myanmar" in Minnesota, March 27. AFP-Yonhap

By Park Han-sol

An official poster for the March 28 performance of the Jeju Artists Association in Support of Myanmar's Democracy (JAAMD) / Courtesy of JAAMD

Sunday afternoon on Jeju Island was filled with the spirit of solidarity as Korean artists and members of the Burmese community joined hands and staged a performance to ratchet up pressure on the brutal military crackdown on pro-democracy activists in Myanmar.

The event came less than a day after the Southeast Asian nation reported a death toll of more than 100, marking the bloodiest day since the Feb. 1 military coup.

The goal of the performance was to inform the Korean public of the dire situation in Myanmar and commemorate the sacrifices made by the fallen citizens, according to the organizer, Jeju Artist Association in Support of Myanmar's Democracy (JAAMD).

Lee Kyoung-sik, head of the association and a mime artist, said that he first became enamored by the nation four years ago when he travelled there and worked as a volunteer artist.

“From 2017 to 2019, I travelled back and forth from Korea to the remote villages in Myanmar to perform magic, mime and make bubbles for children. This also led to the creation of the small local volunteer team 'One Myanmar Project.' COVID-19 stopped us last year from going back, and this year, the military coup has again shattered our hopes for a reunion,” he told The Korea Times.

“In Myanmar, I've become very close with a lot of the children we engage with and some of them even call me 'Dad.' Hearing that they are risking their lives to head out to the street protests made my heart ache. I couldn't just sit out. I decided that the one thing I can do for them is to hold an event like this as a fundraising campaign.”

Lee Kyoung-sik, back row third from left, poses with children in a village in Myanmar during his volunteer trip in this 2017 photo. Courtesy of Lee Kyoung-sik

After the opening remark made by the poet Kim Soo-yeol, the lineup for the 90-minute performance included singer Lee Chang-joon, Oh Deok-hwa, indie band Salt Doll, traditional dancer Park Yeon-sool and guitarist Kim Do-hyung. They are all Lee's colleagues whom he convinced to join. The event, held in Artrock Theater on Jeju Island, was also streamed live on the theater's YouTube and Facebook channels.

Joining the performance artists were the Burmese workers and students based on Jeju Island. Several members took the stage to make their heart-wrenching statements on the horrors committed in their home country that led to the loss of hundreds of lives and the possible fate of their family members.

All of the funds raised by the event will be donated to Myanmar through arrangements made by the One Myanmar Project volunteer team to help the country's democratic causes and support people in the remote villages. JAAMD hopes to hold a similar protest event once every month for as long as the military junta remains in power there.

Jeju Island was also the scene of a brutal military crackdown on demonstrators in the late 1940s opposed to the division of Korea, which led to the killing of 30,000 people ― nearly 10 percent of the island's population at the time ― in a massacre that is a horrific chapter in the story of the Jeju Uprising.

“Korea also has a painful history from the Jeju Uprising and the Gwangju May 18 pro-democracy movement. Korea and Myanmar, we are all connected through the ideas and hopes for freedom, peace and protection of human rights. I wish to create a platform so that artists can express and speak about the painful moments nestled in our history.”