hankyoreh

Professor Lee Hae-young of Hanshin University elaborates on the pro-Japanese activity and possible Nazi ties of South Korean composer and conductor Ahn Eak-tai

Over the past decade, the pro-Japanese actions of Ahn Eak-tai (1906–65) – the composer of South Korea’s national anthem, called “Aegukga” – have continued to come to light. But what if Ahn wasn’t just pro-Japanese but also had close ties to the Nazis?

Lee Hae-young, a political scientist and professor of international relations at Hanshin University, has previously waded into tendentious topics including the US-Korea Free Trade Agreement, imported American beef, and the domestic film quota. This time, he delves into the past of composer and conductor Ahn Eak-tai.

Lee’s book “The Ahn Eak-tai Case: A Study of the Symbol of the Anthem,” which was recently published by Samin, is a controversial work in which Lee marshals the latest documents, which he unearthed himself during eight years of research, to outline not only the pro-Japanese activities of “Ekitai Ahn” (Ahn’s Japanese name), but also his pro-Nazi activities. Lee sat down for an interview at the Hankyoreh office in Seoul’s Gongdeok neighborhood on Jan. 11.

A classical music aficionado and audiophile, Lee studied abroad in Germany, which was Ahn’s main area of activity. Perhaps unsurprisingly for a controversy-courting political scientist, Lee takes a sharper stance than musicologists’ previous academic treatments of the Ahn issue.

Ahn wasn’t a collaborator from the very beginning. At the premiere of “Aegukga” in the US in 1935, Ahn said, “I hope that this will go a long way toward helping the Korean national movement and our spirit of patriotism.”

who composed the song currently regarded as South Korea’s National Anthem. (Kim Jung-hyo

It wasn’t until World War II broke out that Ahn’s pro-Japanese activity really began. When Germany went to war with the Soviet Union in 1941, the Japanese Empire ordered the evacuation of its citizens from the countries of Europe. But Ahn was afraid that if he went back just then, everything he’d accomplished in the US and Europe would have been for nothing. And so Ahn paid a visit to Koichi Ehara, who was ostensibly in Berlin as a diplomat for Manchukuo but was actually the head of Japan’s spy network in Europe, and asked for his advice.

After this meeting, Ahn ended up staying at Ehara’s home in Berlin for two and a half years, from 1941 to 1944. During that time, Ahn conducted 30 concerts in Germany and its allies (Italy), conquered countries (France) and friendly countries (Spain), including at the Beethoven Festival, which was held in Paris in 1944 to celebrate Hitler’s birthday. The pieces performed in these concerts included pieces that Ahn had composed, such as “Etenraku” and “Manchukuo Fantasia,” and “Japanese Festival Music,” by Richard Strauss. Interestingly, Ahn was the only Korean to become a member of Nazi Germany’s Reichsmusikkammer (State Music Bureau). On Ahn’s membership card, he falsely listed his birthplace as being Tokyo, rather than Pyongyang.

“After the outbreak of World War II, Ahn jettisoned his weak nationalist leanings and became actively pro-Japanese. He apparently always had strong ambitions for his career in music,” Lee said.

Lee pays particular attention to the fact that several of the concerts in which Ahn was the conductor were organized and sponsored by the German-Japanese Society. A civilian friendship and academic exchange organization, the German-Japanese Society was affiliated with and funded by the Nazi Party and served as a foreign propaganda organ for those two countries.

When these points are taken into account, Lee argues, it’s reasonable to regard Ahn as having been a “special agent” for Ehara. Shortly before the Allies’ landed at Normandy, Ahn “fled” to Spain (which was on friendly terms with Germany and under the Fascist rule of Franco), as if Japan had tipped him off about the planned landing. Afterward, Ahn, who had been designated as “persona non grata” in France, didn’t return to Germany or Austria. This is also evidence of his pro-Nazi activity.

staff photographer)

Lee has been personally paying visits to German federal archives to make copies of documents related to Ahn, but he says that the South Korean government needs to take action to acquire records and documents. “So far, I think we’ve only learned about 70% of the facts about what Ahn did. The government needs to officially make copies of the Ahn Eak-tai files and video footage at the German federal archives. We also need the government’s help to ask these archives to see if there are any other documents we haven’t found yet,” Lee said.

Ahn’s “Aegukga” is customarily referred to as Korea’s national anthem, but the Republic of Korea doesn’t currently have a legally designated anthem. This led to a movement to choose a new anthem in the 1960s and 1970s and prompted the creation of an “anthem designation committee” during the administration of Chun Doo-hwan. This committee took issue with “Aegukga” because of its sentimental tune and lyrics and tried to create a new national anthem. In short, both conservatives and progressives felt the need to create a new anthem.

Ahn Eak-tai (right) and Germany composer Richard Strauss discuss Ahn’s conduction of the piece “Japanese Festival Music

“Ahn’s actions in Europe were kept under wraps for more than 60 years, and his pro-Japanese activities have only surfaced over the past decade. Even now, bookstores carry a number of books portraying Ahn as a national hero. But his confirmed collaboration with the Nazis would be enough to earn a death sentence in France. It’s inconceivable that a song composed by a conniving collaborator would be sung as the national anthem in France, or even in the UK or the US,” Lee said.

Lee plans to raise the issue of choosing a new national anthem at the National Assembly’s Public Administration and Security Committee. “The anthem is one of the most important symbols of the nation; it represents a central ceremony through which that nation’s members confirm and share their group identity. How much longer can Korea society disregard the fact that its anthem is so unpatriotic? When we haven’t even dealt with the basic issue of ‘Aegukga,’ there’s no point in talking about the Mar. 1 Movement or the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the Korean Provisional Government. It’s time for an answer to be given.”

By Kim Ji-hoon, staff reporter

Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]