Korea Deconstructed3 Des 2021

#010 Solidarity, Anti-Violence, and a Humble Musician with Jinu Konda

Jinu sees himself as a humble musician who focuses on providing solidarity to those suffering from oppression, violence, and health problems. He describes having seen firsthand young hired thugs ('용역') and police carry out acts of violence against the workers of Noryangjin fish market in central Seoul, workers who are often elderly women. They are decent people, citizens of Seoul who enjoy trot music, television dramas, and living the lives they have. Yet water cannons and excavators are used to forcibly move those who don't agree with the plans to relocate the workers of the fish market.

The new fish market into which the vendors are expected to move is described as a collusion between government and large financial enterprises. No longer a public market supported by officials and taxpayers' money to provide quality goods at reasonable prices, the responsibility has been left to capitalist enterprises.

This could just be understood as a normal story about capitalism and gentrification to which we are becoming ever accustomed. A process in which we tear down the old and create newer, smaller, and more expensive places. The tragedy is that this removes stories, characters, and traditions, and then substitutes them for lifeless, cookie-cutter objects that do not speak to us on a human level much of the time—devoid of soul, alienated from reality. But if it was just that, many could provide rational and logical arguments about capitalism, profit, modernity, and such forth. What does seem inexcusable, however, is the violence that takes place to make this happen.

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