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| EXID / Korea Times file |
By Ko Dong-hwan
Korean singers on Saturday boycotted a government-backed concert for United States Forces Korea troops after workers and netizens revived a bitter episode involving the American military.
The municipal government of Uijeongbu in Gyeonggi Province organized the concert to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the 2nd Infantry Division, which is stationed in the city.
USFK commander Vincent Brooks, the 8th U.S. Army commanding general Lt. Gen. Thomas Vandal, 50 officers and 400 soldiers as well as more than 3,000 civilians attended the free concert at the Uijeongbu Sports Complex.
But the musicians invited ― including soloist Insooni, K-pop bands EXID, Oh My Girl, Sweet Sorrow, punk band Crying Nut and rapper SanE ― neither showed up nor performed.
Insooni, 61, whose father was an African-American USFK soldier, told the audience at the start of the concert that she would not perform her three songs.
Shorty after this, the audience was told that all planned performances had been cancelled, causing many people to leave.
The concert, scheduled for three-and-a-half hours, was cut short by an hour, and went ahead with gigs by the 8th Army Band, the city orchestra and dancing troupe, a gukak (Korean traditional music) band and a taekwondo demonstration.
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| Members of civic groups demonstrate in front of the Uijeongbu Sports Complex on June 10 in protest against the concert. / Yonhap |
The boycott stems from a tragedy in 2002 when a 2nd Infantry unit tank accidentally ran over and killed two female middle school students on a street in Yangju, Gyeonggi Province.
Even though the unit commander apologized and compensation was paid, two soldiers were found not guilty of killing the students because a U.S. military court at Camp Casey in Dongducheon ruled their deaths were an accident.
The decision triggered a series of anti-American protests.
The concert took place three days ahead of the day when the accident happened in 2002. And the singers received anonymous threats not to perform, apparently due to anti-U.S. sentiment.
"Fans called our office and also left comments on the band's fan club site and each member's SNS pages to demand the stars not show up at the event," EXID's agency Banana Culture Entertainment told The Korea Times.
"We discussed about the aggressive attention, which persisted for three days, and decided the band had better not be there."
Hours before the event, 10 members of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions' northern Gyeonggi branch also demonstrated against the city government in front of the complex.
A confederation spokesperson said, "Forcing students to congratulate USFK's establishment with celebrities goes against our educational ethics," according to the Chosun Ilbo.
Civic groups also demonstrated, criticizing the city for spending 570 million won ($505,000) of citizens' taxes on the concert.
A city official said the concert had been timed "to allow as many American soldiers to join the event as possible" before three divisions move to Pyeongtaek next year.
"The event was prepared to strengthen the bilateral friendship and Korea's national security," an associate of the event organizer said. "I am worried that the lackluster event might have done the opposite."
