hankyoreh

located in the former Catholic Center building

The Ministry of Patriots and Veterans’ Affairs (MPVA) is stirring up controversy with claims that chanting of the lyrics to the song “March for the Beloved” could hurt unity in South Korea, citing its use as background music in North Korean films.

Now the ministry has announced plans to once again perform a choral rather than chanted rendition of the song at this year’s government-sponsored event commemorating the May 18 Democratization Movement.

“A chorus will be performing ‘March for the Beloved’ at the memorial ceremony for May 18 Democratization Movement, and those who wish to will be able to sing along,” the ministry said in a May 14 press release.

The policy is a rejection of demands from civic groups related to the May 18 movement and others insisting that the song should be chanted at this year‘s ceremony, as was done in years prior to 2008.

As a reason for disallowing the chanting, the ministry noted the “dispute over the meaning of ‘beloved’ and ‘new day’ [in the lyrics] after [the march] was used as background music for ’Symphonic Poem for the Beloved,‘ a 1991 North Korean film about the Gwangju Democratization Movement which was co-written by South Korea’s Hwang Sok-yong and North Korea’s Ri Chun-gu.”

“There is a possibility of [the chanting] harming national unity, as some have argued that the writer’s [Hwang’s] activities are incompatible with the system of liberal democracy in the Republic of Korea,” the ministry added.

The 35th Anniversary Memorial Committee for the May 18 Popular Uprising, an organization spearheaded by Gwangju citizens, protested the ministry’s decision on May 11 by sending an official statement announcing that it would not attend the government-sponsored memorial event and rejecting budgetary support from the MPVA.

Instead, it plans to hold a separate ceremony at the same time at Democracy and Peace Square in front of the former South Jeolla Provincial Office in Gwangju’s East district, where “March for the Beloved” is to be performed as a chant.

By Kim Ji-hoon, staff reporter