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            2019 marks the 100th year anniversary of March 1st Independence Movement. To commemorate the important historical event, the Korean government released a music video starring rapper BewhY. In this essay, I argue that the music video “My Land” represents the Korean government’s effort in boosting nationalism among the younger generation, by reminding them to not forget about Korea’s colonial past.

 

First, the choice of Hip-Hop genre for the commemorative song represents the government’s intention to connect with the youth. Hip-Hop’s popularity among the younger generation makes it an ideal channel to communicate with the youth. Also, Hip-Hop’s unique local specificities further adds to the Korean-ness of such an important and patriotic song (Um 2013: 53). Choosing BewhY as the national ambassador of the 100th year anniversary of March 1st Movement makes it clear that the government’s main target is in fact the younger generation. Not only is BewhY popular among the youth, as the winner of the rap competition, Show Me the Money, he is also representative of Korean Hip-Hop, making him an appropriate candidate for the video targeted towards the youth.

            Second, message of nationalism is conveyed through strong imagery in the video. The theme of independence movement is present throughout the video, but there are several key scenes that are especially representative of the independence movements. At one point, a handprint was shown without the tip of the ring finger. This represents the handprint of An Jung-geun, one of the activists in the independence movement, who cut off the last joint of his left ring finger with his comrades in 1909 as a pledge to kill Itō, former Prime Minister of Japan. Another important scene shows two men, each handing a watch towards one another. This represents the exchange of watches between activist Yun Bong-gil and Kim Gu, head of the Korean provisional government in Shanghai, before Yun Bong-gil set off a bomb there (Kim 2012: 1). A young girl sitting next to BewhY represents the Statue of Peace located in front of the Embassy of Japan in Seoul, which is a symbol of comfort women. The uniformity of movement of background dancers does not only serve as a visual appeal, it can also be seen as a symbol of unification of the nation (Maliangkay 2015: 94). The last shot of the video is especially powerful. It shows the comfort woman, the activists, as well as people of different ages in modern clothing, who represent the general public nowadays, standing in front of the Korean flag. BewhY standing right at the centre, is like a bridge connecting the past and the present, reminding the audience to never forget that without all the people who sacrificed, Korea would have never been what it is today. Such memorable images of crucial events create strong visual impact, thus re-asserts national identity through re-creating a familiar past (Kim 2018: 94; Lee 2006: 139).

            Third, the lyrics of the song also carry strong nationalistic message targeted towards the youth. “Korea Ura”, which means “Long live Korea”, serves as the main hook of the song and is repeated many times throughout, making the patriotic message obvious right from the start. “Remember the past 100 years. The next 100 years depend on our shoulders. Now let me know. Let's remember that this is ours. (They'll) never take away our land again.” These lines are directly targeted towards the younger generation, as a reminder of their collective history, and a reminder of their responsibility as the future of the nation, to never forget their past.

            To conclude, the music video “My Land” does not only reflect the Korean government’s intention to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the March 1st Movement, but also to boost nationalism among the younger generation.

           

Bibliography

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