[Reporter’s Notebook] The Candlelight from 8 Years Ago and Today’s LED Cheering Sticks

Overcoming Wind and Severe Cold with K-pop and Dance
"Nothing Lasts Forever" Song Lyrics
President and People Power Party: Did They Truly Hear the Public Sentiment?

“Who said candles go out when the wind blows? That’s why this time we came out with LED light sticks that don’t go out.”

On the evening of the 7th, when the impeachment vote against President Yoon Seok-yeol was underway, citizens gathered at Yeouido Park in Seoul shouted impeachment slogans. Photo by Heo Young-han

On the 7th, at the ‘Impeachment Rally for President Yoon Suk-yeol’ that filled the area around the National Assembly building in Yeouido, Seoul, idol group light sticks with the word ‘Impeachment’ written on them appeared. Citizens in their 20s and 30s who brought light sticks that keep shining as long as the batteries are replaced repeatedly shouted “Impeachment.” Just like that day eight years ago when citizens, filled with rage, poured into the streets saying “Is this a country?” during the Choi Soon-sil political scandal.

On October 29, 2016, during the first candlelight rally calling for the resignation of former President Park Geun-hye, the reporter was a young journalist with only four years of experience. I vividly remember how senior colleagues at the company warned me, “Your safety comes first,” and “Don’t go out,” amid rampant rumors of martial law spreading mainly through SNS messages. That day, with trembling hands holding a notepad and pen, I went up from the subway station, and what I witnessed at Gwanghwamun Square were citizens holding candles instead of tanks or soldiers. Although every subway station was packed with people, the rally proceeded peacefully without a single injury. Foreign media also admired the citizens’ consciousness, as they even cleaned up the trash after the rally.

K-rallies have now evolved. Last weekend, citizens gathered in Yeouido held LED light sticks that don’t go out even in the wind. In the biting winter cold, they showed wisdom by overcoming the chill themselves with K-pop and dance to boost the mood. “Nothing lasts forever, in the end, you changed,” the citizens loudly sang a line from a famous idol singer’s song. Did President Yoon and the People Power Party truly understand the public sentiment?

On the 7th, when the impeachment motion against President Yoon was put to a vote in the National Assembly plenary session, Yeouido was packed with an estimated crowd of about one million people according to the organizers. That day, the unextinguishable lights embraced the National Assembly building in Yeouido. Although the impeachment motion was invalidated and discarded due to the absence of People Power Party lawmakers in the vote, citizens said this day was “not the end but the beginning.” The rally ended with cleaning up, just like eight years ago?neat and peaceful.

It felt surreal that the same space witnessed the violent scene on the 3rd when armed soldiers broke glass windows and stormed into the National Assembly during the declaration of martial law, and on the 7th, the rally shone brightly with K-pop group chants and idol light sticks.

At that time, President Yoon announced in a statement, “We declared martial law with a resolute will to save the nation against anti-state forces trying to paralyze the essential functions of the state and collapse the constitutional order of liberal democracy.” Which image truly represents democracy? Who are the anti-state forces destroying the constitutional order?

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.