Prompt #1
May 16, 1980
I’m still taken aback by the assassination of President Park. It feels as if we are yet to achieve as
a nation a peaceful transition of power. It is always someone overthrowing the previous figure, or
hoarding power for themselves, at the expense of the people.
When the students filled the Seoul Station plaza yesterday to speak out against the established
martial law, I was reminded of the student demonstrations I witnessed as a boy in April 1960.
With all the growth our country has been through, I’m saddened by the fact it seems we are in
the same place we were exactly 20 years ago. That time it was Syngman Rhee, maintaining a
grip on power with a sham election. Now it is the military and KCIA launching a coup to take
over the government established in a coup to begin with. The people always suffer, while
politicians and chaebol win. In both instances, the students are the first to take to the streets–but I
don’t blame them. I might myself if I had their courage or their youth, but at the age of 31 I now
have my own family whose safety I must prioritize.
Seeing the footage of demonstrators, I worry that the response from the state will be equal, or
even worse than it was 20 years ago. I can’t help remembering that image of the poor boy they
found in the harbor, skull split by the gas canister. I don’t want similar violence to occur this time
around, but I am not naive. I’m just glad my children are too young to demonstrate themselves, I
fear for their safety. There are rumors martial law is going to expand to the whole country. No
doubt it will reach here, Gwangju; there are enough students in opposition of the new
government to draw its attention.
May 18, 1980
What I feared yesterday has arrived. When I heard of students rallying at the university again
today, I expected a response for Chun to flex the muscles of his control. It turns out they were
already here, deployed under the cover of darkness last night. When they clashed with protesters
today, even I didn't expect it to be in such a brutal fashion. The paratroopers beat anyone and
everyone involved. Our hospitals are probably full. I happened to be out front having a smoke
when my neighbor’s son arrived home last night. His arms were purple with bruises, and clothes
blood red from a bludgeoning gash in his left temple. I felt bad, so I brought over some
분홍소세지 for him to eat while his mother tended to his wounds. Yesterday I was content
keeping my head down and waiting for the events to blow over. I thought surely General Chun
would implement reforms, given the overthrow of President Park was an opportunity for
democracy. I am starting to think Chun may in fact be even worse, and I too must march as
well…
May 21, 1980
Today will go down as a dark day in our nation’s history. I am still piecing together the full
details, as there is no official “news” anymore, but the troops opened fire on the demonstrators.
They even brought in helicopters, as if they were at war and we were the enemy. I have no idea
on the potential loss of life, but on my street, not a single person who went to the demonstrations
has returned home. I hear the hospitals are overflowing with victims.
They’ve severed communication lines with the outside, so I wonder if similar demonstrations are
occurring in Seoul or other major cities. If not, I hope the word gets out. The Korean people need
to know the atrocity that is occurring in Gwangju.
June 1, 1980
For now, the troops seem to have been successful in quelling the protests, but not before a
tremendous and unnecessary loss of life. It saddens me that for my entire life, I have witnessed
Koreans pitted against other Koreans. As a child, it was North against South. Then as a teen, it
was the people versus their government, and now again, but the violence stays. Beyond that, I’ve
seen far too many mothers bury sons. I hear there are already fights brewing over the burial of
students killed these past weeks. Mothers are stating that they will not allow the government to
disrupt the burial sites no matter the cost. Constantly, I find myself asking how we can ever be a
strong nation if we can’t stop the carnage in our own streets? Even more so than in 1964, I feel
like Jo Doo-soo in Barefooted Youth: a piece of a generation living an uneasy and directionless
existence, characterized by violence, and forever at the mercy of the constraints of authority. I
yearn for the day I see a more democratic and free Korea, where my children do not need to face
the same struggles I have.
References
“KMDB.” 한국영화데이터베이스,
https://www.kmdb.or.kr/eng/db/kor/detail/movie/K/00984.
Hwang, Kyung Moon. “Striving for Revolution in 1960s South Korea” History of Korea:
an Episodic Narrative, RED GLOBE PR, S.l., 2021.
Hwang, Kyung Moon. “South Korea’s Extended Democratization” History of Korea: an
Episodic Narrative, RED GLOBE PR, S.l., 2021.
Prompt #2
It’s 11 o’clock on a Thursday in December, and Kpop band BTS is wrapping up a record
breaking 4 show stand at So-Fi Stadium in Inglewood, California. With 214,000 tickets and the
largest box score total by any act in nearly a decade, the scene is a massive jump from the “SM
Town World Tour” concert held at the Honda Center in 2012, just a 30 minute drive away
(Frankenberg). Even more so, it is a sharp contrast to future foretold by John Seabrook after
witnessing it. His classification of the cultural divide between Kpop and U.S. audiences and
subsequent prediction that no K-pop group would make it big in the States has clearly been
proven false.
First of all, it appears that the U.S. was ready to be more open to Kpop’s arrival than
many originally thought. This is in part due to the expansion of the internet as a depository of
accessible content. As Shin writes, because consumers across the globe can now easily access
content not dictated by select Western media giants, “non-mainstream and non-Western
producers… can also distribute their creations and widen the scope of activities to connect
with worldwide audiences” (Shin). This trend was already occurring at the time of Seabrook’s
writing, he just failed to see it. He contrasts the international stardom of Kpop groups to Justin
Bieber and One Direction, yet forgets that both these international artists were forged from a new
wave of accessible media themselves, namely YouTube (with Bieber being discovered by his
agent on YouTube and One Direction largely reaching the U.S. via the platform, as X factor did
not air popularly in the U.S. at the time). It is now clear that the cultural similarities between the
U.S. versus Canada and the U.K. simply caused Justin and 1D to reach the U.S. before the likes
of Kpop, but not instead of. Over the last half decade, we have steadily seen a “second wave” of
international music content hit the U.S. billboard, primarily from Latin America (Bad Bunny,
Maluma), South Korea (Kpop), and West Africa (Afro-beats).
Assessment of cultural distances aside, it’s just hard to find an argument made by
Seabrook with any merit whatsoever. Kpop in the United States has successfully captured a wide
ranging audience beyond “ten-to-twelve-year-old girls,” and the well oiled industry produces
work far from “derivative pop music” and “second-tier” singers, shown by their ability to chart
top both in and out of Korea. Despite Seabrook concluding the “élange of East and West
remain[s] elusive,” Kpop might actually offer the largest step toward blending these cultures,
especially as Kpop stars continue to sing more and more in English and gain features on songs
by American stars.
The verdict on whether Kpop is viable in the United States is overwhelmingly clear, and
has only expanded its audience as artists have incorporated more and more English into tracks.
BTS clearly leads the pack, taking home Artist of the Year at the American Music Awards and
tallying 6 Billboard No. 1 hits (the most this decade), but others are close behind (Jun-hee).
Blackpink became the female Kpop group with a Billboard No. 1 on the main albums chart, and
has lit up Coachella’s main stage (Ye-eun). However, it’s not just these two. Other groups, such
as TWICE, ITZY, and SuperM grow bigger and bigger each day.
References
Frankenberg, Eric. “BTS Scores the Biggest Boxscore in Almost a Decade, Thanks to
Four Nights at SOFI Stadium.” Billboard, 3 Dec. 2021,
https://www.billboard.com/music/chart-beat/bts-boxscore-sofi-stadium-1235005581/.
Jun-hee, Park. “BTS Has Most No. 1 on Billboard's 'Hot 100' This Decade.” The Korea
Herald, The Korea Herald, 2 Nov. 2022,
https://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20221102000733.
Shin, Solee I. “14. How K-Pop Went Global: Digitization and the Market-Making of
Korean Entertainment Houses.” Pop Empires, 2019, pp. 268–281.,
https://doi.org/10.1515/9780824879921-021.
Ye-eun, Jie. “Blackpink Becomes First K-Pop Girl Group to Top Billboard 200.” The
Korea Herald, The Korea Herald, 26 Sept. 2022,
https://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20220926000598.