While South Korean protesters have long employed songs, dances and chants, customized light sticks popular with K-pop fans have emerged as an effective new tool for demonstrators calling for the impeachment of President Yoon Suk-yeol.
Tens of thousands of protesters have braved near sub-zero temperatures and gathered outside the National Assembly in the capital of Seoul since Yoon’s failed martial law attempt last week.
“Impeach, impeach. Impeach Yoon Suk-yeol,” protesters chanted to the beat of K-pop group aespa’s latest techno track Whiplash.
Photo: Reuters
Videos of synchronized chanting and light stick movements in unison at the protests have gone viral on social media along with flags carrying messages and memes from mainly younger demonstrators.
“Give us geeks the freedom to only worry about geek things,” one meme flag carried on a flagpole at Saturday’s protest read, capturing the mood among young people amid deepening political turmoil.
One of the advantages of the light sticks is how sturdy they are, said Kim Do-heon, a Seoul-based music critic.
Photo: AP
“It also shines very bright and comes in a size that is easy to carry around.”
South Koreans are playing the long game, said Shin Jae-yun who came out to protest against Yoon with a light stick for K-pop boy band TREASURE, because protests are a “very painful act” yet there is no guarantee things will improve right away.
“To endure such pain, you have to have something to enjoy in it so that people can stay hopeful for a long time even when it drags on,” Shin said.
Playlists of popular K-pop protest songs are also being shared on X. Kim Byung-joo, a lawmaker from the main opposition Democratic Party, jumped on the trend on Monday and posted a playlist on the platform: “Impeach Yoon Suk-yeol, ringleader of treason!...from folk songs to K-pop.”
South Korea has a rich history of protest since democracy took root in the 1980s after a series of military interventions. Demonstrations over worker rights, threats from neighboring North Korea and perceived government failings have sometimes turned violent in the past.
Lee Seul-gi, a 36-year-old woman who is a fan of K-pop boyband ATEEZ, said the impeachment protests this time around have become more accessible.
“Previous rallies might have been a bit violent and scary. But the light sticks and K-pop have lowered the barrier,” Lee said.
CANDLE UPGRADE
Until 2016, candles were prominent at many protests and played a central role in the rallies that led to the impeachment of former President Park Geun-hye.
Park was ousted over a graft scandal and was later jailed over the scandal that exposed webs of corruption between political leaders and the country’s conglomerates.
“So many people were holding candles, putting paper cups over them and carrying them out so they wouldn’t go out. But now the age of the light sticks is here, not candles,” music critic Kim said.
Stephanie Choi, a researcher at the State University of New York at Buffalo, said the light sticks still reflect the “power of solidarity while maintaining the original meaning of non-violence.”
While men and women from all age groups are gathering and calling on parliament to impeach Yoon, young women are outnumbering their male peers at the protests.
Yoon vowed to abolish the gender equality ministry before taking office and was an unpopular candidate with women voters in their 20s in the 2022 presidential election.
He won office in 2022 by the slimmest margin in South Korean history but his party suffered a landslide defeat in parliamentary elections earlier this year.
The K-pop industry is notoriously apolitical and so are the lyrics of many K-pop songs playing at the impeachment protests. In South Korea, celebrities expressing political opinions are often frowned upon.
But experts say fans are conscious of K-pop’s power and the underlying messages of female empowerment it carries.
“K-pop is a female-dominant space...and their feminist demands have shaped K-pop’s aesthetics and performances today,” Choi said.
Kim Da-in, a 19-year-old fan of virtual idol group Plave, said the impeachment protests are uniting all K-pop fandoms.
“Here, I feel that we are citizens of South Korea first before we are idol fans.”
A vaccine to fight dementia? It turns out there may already be one — shots that prevent painful shingles also appear to protect aging brains. A new study found shingles vaccination cut older adults’ risk of developing dementia over the next seven years by 20 percent. The research, published Wednesday in the journal Nature, is part of growing understanding about how many factors influence brain health as we age — and what we can do about it. “It’s a very robust finding,” said lead researcher Pascal Geldsetzer of Stanford University. And “women seem to benefit more,” important as they’re at higher risk of
Eric Finkelstein is a world record junkie. The American’s Guinness World Records include the largest flag mosaic made from table tennis balls, the longest table tennis serve and eating at the most Michelin-starred restaurants in 24 hours in New York. Many would probably share the opinion of Finkelstein’s sister when talking about his records: “You’re a lunatic.” But that’s not stopping him from his next big feat, and this time he is teaming up with his wife, Taiwanese native Jackie Cheng (鄭佳祺): visit and purchase a
Experts say that the devastating earthquake in Myanmar on Friday was likely the strongest to hit the country in decades, with disaster modeling suggesting thousands could be dead. Automatic assessments from the US Geological Survey (USGS) said the shallow 7.7-magnitude quake northwest of the central Myanmar city of Sagaing triggered a red alert for shaking-related fatalities and economic losses. “High casualties and extensive damage are probable and the disaster is likely widespread,” it said, locating the epicentre near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay, home to more than a million people. Myanmar’s ruling junta said on Saturday morning that the number killed had
Mother Nature gives and Mother Nature takes away. When it comes to scenic beauty, Hualien was dealt a winning hand. But one year ago today, a 7.2-magnitude earthquake wrecked the county’s number-one tourist attraction, Taroko Gorge in Taroko National Park. Then, in the second half of last year, two typhoons inflicted further damage and disruption. Not surprisingly, for Hualien’s tourist-focused businesses, the twelve months since the earthquake have been more than dismal. Among those who experienced a precipitous drop in customer count are Sofia Chiu (邱心怡) and Monica Lin (林宸伶), co-founders of Karenko Kitchen, which they describe as a space where they