Ceremony marking Gwangju Uprising boycotted by liberals due to song

This year’s commemorative ceremony for the Gwangju Democratic Uprising, which marks 34th annual event, is set to be paralyzed amid liberal people’s absence. This results from the situation where the Patriots and Veterans Affairs Ministry and May uprising organizations are not making concession over whether all attendees will sing in unison the song “March for My Beloved.” The organization is demanding singing in unison the song even by declaring its absence at the May 18 commemorative ceremony because the song is the flagship music for the May 18 Democratic Uprising.

The “March for My Beloved” was made to dedicate to the wedding ceremony for spiritual posthumous marriage between Yoon Sang-won and and Park Gi-soon. Each of the couple died during the military operation to force out armed civilians occupying the South Jeolla provincial office in 1980, and in a labor rights movement in 1978. The song’s lyric reads “Without leaving any love or fame, the strong promise to continue our struggle throughout our lives…” that was written by novelist Hwang Seok-young who adapted democracy activist Baek Ki-wan’s poem “Moit Binari.” The song was composed by Kim Jong-ryul (56, head of JR Media), who was a student at Chonnam National University at the time. Afterwards, the song spread across the nation by the Ecumenical Youth Council of Korea, and became a signature song that symbolizes the emotional sentiment of the generation who spearheaded the Democratic Uprising in the 1980s.

“The March for My Beloved” has been constantly sung at the commemorative ceremonies for the May 18 Democratic Uprising. After the ‘May 18 uprising’ was promoted to a national memorial day in 1997, former presidents late Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun sang the song with other people in attendance at the commemorative ceremony.

However, the song’s performance changed to chorus beginning in 2009. A resolution urging the government to designate the song as “official commemorative song” was adopted by the National Assembly in June last year, but the Patriots and Veterans Affairs Ministry only repeated that it would consider the measure, until it recently clarified that the song cannot be designated as a commemorative song. A source at the ministry said, “A related provision suggests that at a national commemorative ceremony, a song that does not have the same title as the national day concerned be sung as chorus, rather than sung in unison by all attendees.” As a result, organizations related with the May 18 uprising, including the council of May 18 bereaved families, the council of the injured, and the council of the arrested, have decided to boycott this year’s event.

In a telephone interview with The Dong-A Ilbo on Friday, Kim Jong-ryul who composed the song, said, “The song has been symbolizing the May 18 Democratic Uprising. I can hardly understand why the government attempts to ban the song, which had been continuously sung even despite oppression by the military governments.”

Meanwhile, in the wake of the government’s decision not to sing the “March for My Beloved” by all attendees in unison at the upcoming commemorative ceremony, the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy decided not to attend the government-hosted ceremony to be held at the May 18 National Cemetery in Unjeong-dong in Gwangju at 10 a.m. on Sunday. Instead, the party will hold a separate memorial ceremony at the same venue at 11 a.m. Attendees of the ceremony will the include opposition party`s co-chairmen Kim Han-gil and Ahn Cheol-soo, and other lawmakers.