So I suspect I might be able to mention Korean rapper and satirist PSY without too many people not recognizing him, at this point. I was slightly ahead of the curve when I posted about his “Gangnam Style” way back in mid August.
But I recently ran across something interesting. His current social satire is pretty mild. Back in 2003, he as was full-on radical. And angry-radical, too.
In this video, he’s performing a small part in a song called “Anti-American,” which is by the heavy metal band called “NEXT” and he’s smashing a toy model of an American tank. Apparently the song included lyrics such as the following.
싸이 rap : 이라크 포로를 고문해 댄 씨발양년놈들과
고문 하라고 시킨 개 씨발 양년놈들에
딸래미 애미 며느리 애비 코쟁이 모두 죽여
아주 천천히 죽여 고통스럽게 죽여Kill those —— Yankees who have been torturing Iraqi captives
Kill those —— Yankees who ordered them to torture
Kill their daughters, mothers, daughters-in-law, and fathers
Kill them all slowly and painfully
I did not do the translation, and it seems a little bit rough, but I found it online and it’s close enough.
I do not condone, and never condone, violence as a response to violence. I dislike the ease with which people transition from violence they oppose to the idea of retributive violence such as that being espoused by the PSY and his metal-headed friends, above. Having said that, I, too, was deeply troubled by the US behavior in, especially, Iraq. I have long felt that Bush, Cheney, and subsequently the disappointing Mr Obama should be held responsible for war-crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan (and Yemen and Pakistan and other places where drone attacks are still being carried out). So without agreeing with his prescription for retribution, I do agree with PSY’s anger as expressed in 2003. And I actually find him more interesting, because he’s clearly a politically conscious animal – as indicated by both his recent, milder satire as well as this.
[Update added 2012-12-10] I just noticed that blogger Ask A Korean has a very brilliant post on this same topic. Please read it if you’re one of those people who are uncomfortable with PSY’s rhetoric. Or even if you’re not, but just curious about the context of South Korean anti-Americanism.
