Candles and cheering sticks symbolized by the 'K-Protests' that foreign media also noted.What's the behind-the-scenes story about the integration of generations?

- Women in their 20s and 30s in the mainstream assembly scene
- Utilizing the fandom culture they are familiar with
- Demonstrations these days, expressing their opinions in their own ways
- The world they met again, called at the protest site in Thailand
- Foreign media, pay attention to the K-rally."It's like a festival".

◆ [YTN Radio SHINYUL's news]
■ Broadcasting: FM 94.5 (17:00-19:00)
■ Air date: December 13, 2024 (Friday)
■ Proceedings: Shin Yul, Professor of Political Science and Diplomacy at Myongji University
■ Talk: Ha Jae-geun, cultural critic

* The text below may differ from the actual broadcast content, so please check the broadcast for more accurate information.


◇Shin Yul: Shin Yul's news head-to-head interview for the fourth part. The momentum of protests is quite strong these days. It is said that there is now a new type of light that lights up this protest site. Let's talk about this. Ha Jae-geun, a cultural critic, is in the studio right now. How are you?

◆Ha Jae-geun: Hello.

◇ Shin Yul: Those who watch it on YouTube can see it well, but in my hand, our writers and producers did this by hand. Can you see it? It looks like you took this out, right?

◆Ha Jae-geun: Is this the NCT light stick that I've only heard about at the protest site?

◇ Shin Yul: I don't know that, but what surprised me when you suddenly said NCT is that our second daughter is a big fan of NCT. This is the most famous light stick.

◆Ha Jae-geun: At the protest site, I gather several colorful light sticks from various idol group fandom, and among them, the NCT light sticks are in the form of such a flat rectangular rectangular parallelepiped, so it's good to 'pull back'. There's a saying that it's good to decorate the light stick or hang it in writing, so it's a hit.

◇Shin Yul: It's been a while since we did a broadcast together, and our production team decorated it like this to decorate it. You have to compliment me now.

◆Ha Jae-geun: Thank you for your hard work. These days, however, there are cases where they respond like this and attach a phrase related to the protest to the cheering stick and share it as a protest item at a used market.

◇ Shin Yul: Oh, I see. There must be NCT light sticks and other light sticks, right?

◆Ha Jae-geun: The cheering sticks of all kinds of singers started from the 1st generation GOD, Epik High, Girls' Generation, 2NE1, IU, SHINee, Big Bang, BTS, Black Pink, Espa, Seventeen, etc. So now, some say that the president has integrated all idols from the first to the fourth generation, and that all idol fandom has gathered.

◇ Shin Yul: Oh, I see. In fact, it is hard to say that the protests in my generation risked their lives, but they were very serious, and sometimes they had no choice but to risk their lives. But the MZ generation, especially young women, seems to be the largest right now?

◆Ha Jae-geun: Yes, according to what's coming out now, there seem to be the largest number of women in their 20s at the protest site. That's what's being said. Next, there are talks about men in their 50s, followed by women in their 30s. After all, there have been talks about whether women in their 20s and 30s are the mainstream. Since the last presidential election, the Yoon Suk Yeol government has been announcing pledges focused on young men. The most symbolic thing is the abolition of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family. Since then, complaints have accumulated among women, but now young women are far from familiar with the existing activist culture, so when they take to the streets, they are expressing their political opinions using the fandom culture that they were familiar with, not the existing activist culture.

◇ Shin Yul: So it's a combination of fandom and political expression. You're curious, right? In fact, there is a saying that the protest site where young people gathered is like an idol concert hall. First, let's listen to a song that resonated at the protest site last weekend.

Our critic Ha is not from Girls' Generation, right?

◆Ha Jae-geun: I'm a complete old man. But the new world of Girls' Generation is the beginning of the Korean youth's existing activist culture and suddenly singing idol songs with a social voice while drawing a line like this. I started singing this song in the 2010s. The world we met again became more and more famous, and now, for example, there was something like that in foreign countries. There was a protest in Thailand, and I don't know exactly how many years ago it was that Thai people sang the world they met again, but it's widely known that it happened, but the song is now sung again. I think this song is becoming more like a new activist. And there's a lyric that says, "There's no such thing as G-Dragon's crooked lyrics that are eternal." It's like power is not eternal. It's like an idol song like Aespa's Whiplash BTS is on fire. It's like a dance party. It's like a K-pop festival. These things are coming from foreign media.

◇ Shin Yul: But actually, even Mariah Carey's carol came out. Anyway, this is a kind of harmony between generations, and it's actually very hard for adults to get that light stick. Where would you get this light stick?

◆Ha Jae-geun: So these days, older generations like me are facing a sudden rush of cheering clothes, and when a trend comes out in Korea, we have to do it. So people like me are looking for used marketplaces to urgently get light sticks.

◇ Shin Yul: So, fan club fandom have it now, so are you saying that if we make a group, we do it, but we don't sell it?

◆Ha Jae-geun: It's probably different for each light stick, but there are some that are being sold at the fandom shopping mall. But I told you earlier that 1, 2, 3, 4 were integrated. In the case of first-generation second-generation idols, it is highly likely that they will not sell them by now. It's been a while. So anyway, if you want to buy a new one, it's expensive and many people are looking for it at used marts, but these days, some younger generations share protest items for people in their 50s like me. I'm going to upload it like this. Only those in their 50s or older will receive a light stick for free. They're posting it like this. And the older generation is belatedly learning idol songs, and the impeachment playlist came out. The songs that are usually sung at the protest site, such as Espa Whiplash, Girls' Generation's Reunited World, G-Dragon's crookedness, and so on. The older generation is trying to learn that now, and the younger generation is an existing activist that they didn't know until now. It is said that this demonstration is being held again in such a field where we learn such things and narrow the distance between each other.

◇Shin Yul: But since we're talking about the light stick, I think we held balloons when GOD was there. As time passed, it became more civilized. This is the light stick?

◆Ha Jae-geun: That's an analogy now. In 2016, at the candlelight rally for the impeachment of the Park Geun Hye, then ruling party lawmaker Kim Jin-tae said, "Candlelight goes out when the wind blows," and people said they would bring LED lights that won't go out even when the wind blows. At that time, it appeared on a limited basis, but this time, it appeared in full.

◇ Shin Yul: No, if you look at it then, there's an app on your smartphone. There were people who took out the candlelight app with it.

◆Ha Jae-geun: So I used to make another app because the candle is a symbol. So, in the 1980s, Korea's protest culture was very popular, throwing rocks and firebombs, and in the 1990s, there was some struggle. After entering the 2000s, the culture of peaceful protest settled and symbolized candlelight. Therefore, the image of candlelight has symbolized Korean protests for more than 20 years, and it remains to be seen whether the light stick will almost replace it this time or whether the candle image and light stick image will become the two symbols of K-protest culture at the same time.

◇ Shin Yul: You don't know because the critic is a little younger than me, but you know this tear gas. I can't use tear gas because it's not suitable for broadcasting.They fly to an incredible distance while patting each other. Do you know X-EXTAN? But the X-X-Tan permeates the classroom. That's why it's spicy even if you don't shoot it. It was such an environment, but there was a situation like that with a light stick, and then they came into the campus called the Baekgoldan and just flew around. Those people were flying and getting caught.
◆Ha Jae-geun: In the past, peaceful demonstrations were impossible because people wore blue caba and attacked wearing white helmets.

◇ Shin Yul: Talking about this makes us like the same generation. But one of the characteristics of the protest culture this time is that we talked about it earlier, but there seem to be a lot of people who pay in advance.

◆Ha Jae-geun: The foreign press is also very interested in that, but our K-protest culture is becoming a hot topic overseas. That's why we have to learn Korea abroad. Koreans are better than Americans.

◇ Shinryul: You don't have to learn things like this. Because of martial law, Korea's image has been greatly reduced. Still, this protest culture is better.

◆Ha Jae-geun: The protest culture of Koreans is slightly raising the national dignity, and many of you just mentioned pre-payment because I can't go there right now, but I want to add some money, so I pay in advance at a cafe near the protest site. 50 cups of coffee and post it on social media. If I make a pre-payment somewhere and post it on my name, people come to the cafe and eat it. Many ordinary people are doing that right now, and so are celebrities.

◇ Shin-ryul: Some celebrities say, so at a coffee shop, for example, 100 cups of coffee in advance?

◆Ha Jae-geun: Because I told you earlier that the fandom is gathering. When idol fans gathered, idols said, "Thank you for your hard work" and gave fan service to the fans. I think this is the first time in the history of Korea that idols have expressed their political voices.

◇ Credit: I'm not sure about that. I think that's probably the case.

◆Ha Jae-geun: I don't think idols have ever been like that, even though established movie actors and stuff sometimes make political voices. I think that's right. But even idols are putting on candle emoticons right now. In the meantime, the pre-payment culture is appearing like this, and another one is that someone was going to go on a trip to celebrate the 50th day of her daughter's birth, but now the trip is not a problem after seeing the rally explode. It is said that they rented a 45-seater bus with the travel expenses. People who bring their babies to the protest site with their own money do that with their own money so that they can change their diapers and feed them comfortably on the bus. In addition to that, there are various movements such as active voluntary participation.

◇ Shin Yul: So that's actually a very shiny idea. I was thinking about renting a 45-seater bus and doing this for babies and mothers. You said you rented a 45-seater bus, so I was wondering where the bus would go back and forth from the subway station to the protest site. .

◆Ha Jae-geun: That's why I was so surprised in foreign countries. In a Japanese broadcast, the commentator delivered the current status of protests in Korea and got emotional. In the meantime, if a leader does something wrong in Japan, we should think about whether the Japanese can gather at once and stop the action. Speaking in this way, it seems that there is some admiration for Korea's protest culture all over the world.

◇ Shin Yul: It's quite hard to see Japan. And actually, early last year, there were huge protests in France. So at that time, you can get that pension, so the protest against the retirement age extension, but it was really cut out. So it's like a demonstration when we were in college. But when foreigners see this, European people can actually think it's very interesting.

◆Ha Jae-geun: A large crowd like that gathered in anger, but nothing exploded. There must be no arson, no looting.

◇ Shin-ryul: And it's not just that nothing bursts, but you do it very happily. But actually, the most important thing is that when we say we're going to have a fireworks festival, the biggest problem was the garbage problem, but actually, there aren't that many garbage problems here?

◆Ha Jae-geun: I know. One of the things that foreigners are surprised about is that they are looking at it very interestingly. After the rally, the protestors picked up trash and cleaned up the situation in Korea, and this came out again. So many people were surprised about it, and then I was going home after the assembly, and a taxi driver didn't pay for the taxi.

◇ Shin Yul: No, there were a lot of drivers who didn't pay for taxis when they tried to go to Yeouido.

◆Ha Jae-geun: When you're trying to go to Yeouido, you know,

◇ Shin Yul: No, the driver said that. There are a lot of people who ask me to do my part well because I can't go because I don't get this money.

◆Ha Jae-geun: That's right. So, I think many people think this is not the case with the declaration of martial law this time, so I think many people are gathering such support for this demonstration.

◇ Shinryul: No problem with trash Anyway, as I mentioned earlier, you said that there were more women in the MZ generation, but there must be a lot of men, right?

◆Hajae-geun: That's right. However, this is also a phenomenon in the United States, and strangely, women tend to support the Democratic Party, and young men who would have voted for the Democratic Party in the past in the United States support Trump this time.

◇ Shin-ryul: What I'm talking about now is that women are actually a minority human right in women's human rights because human rights are often not properly guaranteed, so women are quite sensitive to power or power. That's probably why.

◆Ha Jae-geun: And the so-called politics of identity has become a hot topic in the U.S. these days, and various human rights minority issues, feminism, and of course women are advocating feminism. But young men are expressing their reluctance to do that now. And in the United States, for example, casting people of color as the main characters of Hollywood movies is something that young men hate very much.

◇ Shin Yul: So, African American, the Little Mermaid's color, is now playing the role of the Little Mermaid?

◆Ha Jae-geun: Yes. As a result, the political goal of the United States has deepened, but feminism issues have emerged very strongly in Korea. As a result, the Democratic Party of Korea is not such a feminist party, but there is no reason for women to support the Democratic Party, but the people's power was too male-dominated in the last election, such as the abolition of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family. It seems that women felt a lot of reluctance, and on the contrary, men thought very well that the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family would be abolished by the people's power. As some young men are like that, I can assume that there are aspects of lower participation than young women.

◇ Shin Yul: Many male students go to our department. But the most important thing is that when women feel like they are power tyranny, they react much faster than men. In my opinion, there's something that women always say about in a male-dominated social structure. There's Cinderella. In order for Cinderella to become a fairy tale, it is not necessary to marry a prince and succeed. That can't happen, and how Cinderella should succeed is that she has to fight and go up and succeed. Actually, I think it should be a fairy tale for girls, but now women seem to have more problem consciousness. So even now, it's a kind of power issue, so I wonder if they're sensitive to it. But isn't there anyone who don't donate hand warmers or something like that? You know that hot pack?

◆Ha Jae-geun: I've also heard about sharing hot packs. So people in foreign countries who are trying to express their opinions in their own way from all over the world say, "I can't go to Korea right now, but I want to give out gifticons," and people in foreign countries also donate like this.

◇ Shin Yul: People living abroad were more surprised. When I was studying abroad, my friend, Germany's mother and father, I was so surprised that I thought what happened to our country and called it an emergency martial law. People in foreign countries will be surprised even though we are still surprised.

◆Ha Jae-geun: When foreign media always look at Korea, there is something like a country in danger of war. So, if you hear such reports from abroad, you might be more worried about whether Korea is in trouble again.

◇ Shin-ryul: But thanks to this, I think I can show you that it's not like that.

◆Ha Jae-geun: People around the world seem to feel that Korea is a stable country after watching the K-protest culture, and people who explain the news in the U.S. continue to explain that Korea is a developed and highly democratic country.

◇Shin Yul: Thank you for your words today. Thank you. This has been Ha Jae-geun, a cultural critic.