"My Song Was Parodied Like This"... Original Composer Also 'Embarrassed' by Yoon Tribute Chorus

Kwon Jinwon: "My Song Lyrics Were Changed... It's Bewildering"
Conservative Community Distorts Kang Full's Webtoon

President Yoon Suk-yeol and his wife. Photo by Yonhap News

It has come to light that the Presidential Security Service altered and sang the song "Happy Birthday To You" at its founding anniversary event, and the original artist, singer Kwon Jin-won, has expressed his feelings about this.

On the 17th, Kwon Jin-won posted a collection of news reports related to the "President Yoon's Dedication Song Choir" on his social media account. Along with this, he added, "It is truly bewildering that 'Happy Birthday To You,' a love song for lovers who can have a happy birthday with just a single rose and a book of poetry, has been altered like this."

Singer Kwon Jin-won expressed his feelings of "being embarrassed" regarding the report on the choral performance of the dedication song for President Yoon Seok-yeol. Kwon Jin-won Instagram

According to an SBS report the previous day, on December 18, 2023, the Security Service staff attended the 60th anniversary event held at the auditorium of the Presidential Office. At the event, they altered and sang the song "Seasons of Love" from the famous musical "Rent." The changed lyrics were known as "845,280 precious minutes, thinking only of the people," and when 845,280 minutes are converted into days, it equals 587 days, which was the 587th day since President Yoon took office on the day of the event. Additionally, it was also President Yoon's birthday (December 18).

The next song was Kwon Jin-won's "Happy Birthday To You." The Security Service also changed the lyrics of this song to "On this meaningful day when the president sent to us by heaven for the new Republic of Korea was born, let us all celebrate." It was confirmed that the Security Service even required the musicians involved in producing the dedication song to sign a "confidentiality agreement." Furthermore, it was revealed that a "Yoon Seok-yeol Acrostic Poem Contest" was held for Security Service employees. The event was hosted by former Minister of National Defense Kim Yong-hyun, who was serving as the head of the Security Service at the time, and planned by Security Chief Kim Seong-hoon, who was the head of the Planning and Management Office.

A drawing posted by webtoon artist Kang Full during the 2004 impeachment attempt of former President Roh Moo-hyun. Online community

Meanwhile, webtoon artist Kang Full's work also became controversial after being used to oppose President Yoon's impeachment. Recently, an online community used a webtoon drawn by Kang Full in 2004 criticizing the impeachment of former President Roh Moo-hyun, saying it "fits perfectly with the current impeachment situation." The webtoon includes lines such as, "The president certainly isn't without fault. But even if we bring him down, it will be us who do it. What right do gangsters like you have to bring down a president elected by the people at your whim? He is our president. We elected him." Some conservative netizens then selectively quoted parts of the webtoon and distorted it as an "anti-President Yoon impeachment webtoon."