The historic theme was announced in Lee Jae-myung's press briefing outside the prosecutors' offices to which he was summoned Friday, for his third interrogation.
유권 무죄 무권 유죄
有權 無罪 無權 有罪
If one has power they are not guilty;
If one does not have power, they are guilty.
There was a remarkable performance by a musical stage group at the 26th candlelight assembly in downtown Seoul the next day. The performance was an adaptation of the song Who is the Criminal, from the musical Hero, about one of Korea's great patriots in modern history, Ahn Jung-geun. Ahn was a leading member of the Righteous Army, a militia organization that opposed Japanese occupation and colonization of Korea. Ahn assassinated Ito Hirobumi, the former Resident General of Korea during the early stages of Korean colonization by the Japanese. Ito also had been a former prime minister of Japan. Ahn shot and killed Ito and then was tried by Japan and executed. The song from Hero, Who is the Criminal, is the dramatic rendition of Ahn's listing of the 15 Korean grievances against Japan in 1909 which justified Ito's assassination.
The fifteen reasons can be read here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_Jung-geun
The original lyrics to hero and a video of the stage performance (in Korean) are posted at:
https://culture-ing.tistory.com/60
My interest concerns the lyrics of this contemporary adaptation of the musical performance at the candlelight demonstration February 11, in Seoul. Below is a rough translation. The performers asked that the audience spread the word world wide, but only the Korean subtitles were provided.
First, this large scale candlelight assembly interferes with the traffic of Seoul citizens for which we sincerely apologize.
Yet, as citizens of Korea we must cry out "Yoon Seok-yeol, step down!" and boldly transmit the reasons.
The crime of avoidance of responsibility for the Itaewan disaster.
The crime of quashing the voices of the survivors by force.
The crime of compelling the reduction of budget items for the greater welfare of the Korean people, one after another.
The crime of allowing prices of heating oil and electricity, essential to the citizens' livelihood, double, ruining their lives.
Who is the criminal, who is the criminal?
The crime of stigmatizing the voice of the people as unlawful assembly.
The crime of using the National Security Law to stigmatize organized labor as spies.
The crime of using your overseas tours to degrade the national dignity of Korea.
The crime of blaming others for your overseas blundering and humiliation.
Who is the criminal, who is the criminal?
(Against Kim Gon-hee, First Lady, whom Yoon is protecting from prosecution)
The crime of violating laws against stock price manipulation to make a million dollars in less than a year.
The crime of passing yourself off as someone of presidential status to deceive the people.
The crime of abusing your power to elevate cult leader Jeon Gong over goverment authority.
The crime of fabricating false credentials and plagiarism.
Who is the criminal, who is the criminal?
The crime of desiring US protection for Korea, at the same time bringing large quantities of modern weapons into Korea aggravating the threat of war.
The crime of advocating pre-emptive attack repeatedly, calling for war.
The crime of subordinating Korea to Japan, paving the way for the Japanese armed forces.
Because you are thoroughly destoying peace on the Korean peninsula, you sin against heaven and humanity.
Who is the criminal, who is the criminal?
Avoiding the wellbeing of citizens, incompetent, ignorant Yoon Seok-yeol
The completely manufactured fraudulent life of Kim Gon-hee.
The president and his wife, this is why we say our country is completely screwed.
It is a true honor to fight this without hesitation.
We were born citizens of Korea, to serve our country,
We raise up the candle's light.
This is true glory, we intend to fight without hesitation.
All people, don't be fooled by Yoon's lies and ambitions.
Let the world know-
Yoon Seok-yeol, step down!
Special prosecution for Kim Gon-hee!
Those who fight and serve the nation, is it right to call them criminals?
Who causes the nation to fail?
We raise up the candle lights!
Shall those who serve the country be punished?
Shall we know the suffering of losing our country?
Who is the criminal, who is the criminal?
The South Korean democracy movement uses traditional culture and art forms to advance their goals. Kim Min-jung also performed, including the democracy movement unofficial theme, Morning Dew. What yesterday's demonstration lacked in numbers compared to the prior demonstations, was more than compensated by quality.
No comments:
Post a Comment