<
https://theconversation.com/k-pop-hits-become-anthems-of-south-koreas-protests-against-president-yoon-246011>
"When South Korea’s president, Yoon Suk Yeol, attempted to institute martial
law in early December, the public responded with massive protests. These
protests have continued across the country. On December 14, for example, an
estimated 1 million people gathered outside the National Assembly in the
capital, Seoul, as lawmakers convened to vote on the motion to impeach Yoon.
The sight of young people moving to K-pop’s electrifying beat has become part
of the drama of this protest movement. Protest organisers are blasting out
K-pop hits, and demonstrators are waving K-pop light sticks (portable devices
associated with specific artists or groups), turning the protests into
multicoloured musical rallies. An article in the
Guardian newspaper noted
that parts of the protests resembled “a club dancefloor”.
There are many words from K-pop songs that resonate with the sentiment of the
protests. For example, a verse from Girls’ Generation’s
Into The New World
(2007), which has been one of the most popular songs at the protests, promotes
purpose and camaraderie, with lyrics like: “Don’t wait for any special miracle.
The rough path in front of us might be an unknown future and challenge, but we
can’t give up.”
But K-pop fan culture also connects with community spirit and politics.
Observers have noted that the most visible demographic group at the impeachment
protests is women in their 20s and 30s. Many are K-pop fans and also
discontented with Yoon’s anti-feminist stance, as well as the gender-based
violence that is widespread across South Korean society.
It is these women who first brought K-pop light sticks to the protest sites and
made waving them a wider protest ritual. They also passed around information on
social media such as the location of the protest sites and publicly available
toilets, as well as lists of useful rally supplies. And they collaborated with
the older official organisers to rework K-pop soundbites, signs and artefacts
into the protest grounds."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
