By Do Je-hae
The government has denied calls to recognize a song symbolizing the May 18 Democratic Uprising.
The Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs said Thursday that "March for Our Beloved" will not be sung by attendees of a memorial service for the 1980 democracy movement in Gwangju next week.
The ministry said that the song is feared to disrupt national unity, highlighting that it had been used as background music for a North Korean film.
Prior to 2009, the attendees were allowed to sing the song together, but the conservative Lee Myung-bak administration stopped the routine.
“We will only have the choir sing the song as in the case of the previous year,” a ministry statement said. “Those who wish to sing along may do so.”
The ministry referred to the 1991 North Korean movie “A Symphonic Poem for Our Beloved” about the Gwangju Uprising which featured the song.
“The song has been called incompatible with our system of democracy,” the ministry said. “If people were to sing this song in a public ceremony, it will lead to more controversy and hamper national unity.”
The ministry cited some conservative groups involved in veterans and security affairs who oppose singing the song during a national event.
Since 1997, the government designated May 18 as an official memorial day and has led commemorations for the uprising against the authoritarian Chun Doo-hwan regime. More than 200 protesters died in a brutal crackdown by the military.
The Chun administration and media ― under heavy influence from the government ― labeled it a rebellion triggered by Communist sympathizers.
March for Our Beloved, a song that has come to symbolize Korea’s democracy movement in the 1980s, was sung by attendees of the May 18 memorial ceremony from 1997 through 2008. Since 2009, it has been sung only by a choir.
Former presidents Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun sang the song with other people in attendance at the commemorative ceremony during their liberal rule.
Civic groups involved with victims of the movement have called on the government to name the song as an official one of the memorial service.
In 2013, the National Assembly adopted a resolution urging the government to designate the song as an “official commemorative theme,” but the ministry has not been responsive.
During a meeting with relevant groups on April 6, National Assembly Speaker Chung Ui-hwa called on the ministry to comply with the resolution.
“In principle, the ministry should honor an Assembly resolution,” Chung said. “The song is a symbol of the spirit of Gwangju, which equals the spirit of democracy and human rights.”
In protest of the government's attempt to ban the song, the council of May 18 bereaved families and other local organizations boycotted the memorial service last year.
The song was composed by Kim Jong-ryul, a student at Chonnam National University at the time of the uprising.
The song spread across the nation and became a flagship one representing the emotional sentiment of the generation who led the student movement against the military regime in the 1980s.