While South Korean protesters have long employed songs, dances and chants, customised 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. - REUTERS
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Over the last few days, the streets of Seoul have resembled its concert arenas.
00:07Customized lightsticks popular with fans of K-pop are commonplace among demonstrators
00:11calling for the impeachment of President Yoon Suk-yool after his failed martial law attempt
00:16last week.
00:17Since then, tens of thousands of protesters have braved the cold of South Korea in December
00:22to gather outside its National Assembly.
00:25The protesters want Yoon out of office and their chants and lightstick choreography to
00:29get people riled up have gone viral on social media.
00:33So have flags with memes and messages, mostly from younger demonstrators.
00:38Protest emcee Park Min-joo has strategically adopted catchy K-pop beats to keep the crowd
00:43energized and engaged.
00:45We will continue to hold the protest rallies, so I wanted to make people get excited to
00:51join the rallies without getting tired.
00:53Although we are in a serious situation, I prepared K-pop instrumentals and slogans for
00:58them to cheer people up.
01:01Ahead of an impeachment vote over the weekend, protesters chanted Impeach Yoon Suk-yool to
01:06the beat of Whiplash by popular K-pop group aespa.
01:10It's all the latest flavor in a long, rich history of protests seen in South Korea since
01:15democracy took root there in the 80s.
01:18Past protests, including the 2016 impeachment of former President Park Geun-hye, were defined
01:23by candlelight rallies.
01:25Seoul-based music critic Kim Do-hun says K-pop lightsticks offer a more vibrant and durable
01:30symbol of resistance, and that the pop music helps bring together protesters younger and
01:35older.
01:36For now, K-pop is the music that can attract every generation immediately.
01:43That's why many K-pop fans are gathering at the protests, and protest leaders are using
01:47K-pop songs.