Jo Sung-Mo: Ashinayo
Thanks to youtube, here is the music video for "Ashinayo" (아시나요; english translation: Do You Know) by Korean pop singer Jo Sung-Mo (조성모) - I've been looking for it for a while. The female lead is 16-year-old Shin Min A. Enjoy.
I first watched the video while serving in Korea in 2000. I didn't understand the lyrics of the song then and still don't, but I was riveted by the video's depiction of the Korean military in the Vietnam War and moved by the Korean affinity for melodramatic, tragic, perhaps heroic, romantic death, a sentiment I share. As a fan of the music video, I can forgive that the Korean soldiers are shown to be less than competent and dramatically overwrought. But as a veteran, I can understand why the depiction upset Korean Vietnam War veterans, who by all historical accounts, served honorably and very competently in Vietnam. The video also is nostalgic for me because I associate it with my last year as a soldier in Korea.
Eric
I first watched the video while serving in Korea in 2000. I didn't understand the lyrics of the song then and still don't, but I was riveted by the video's depiction of the Korean military in the Vietnam War and moved by the Korean affinity for melodramatic, tragic, perhaps heroic, romantic death, a sentiment I share. As a fan of the music video, I can forgive that the Korean soldiers are shown to be less than competent and dramatically overwrought. But as a veteran, I can understand why the depiction upset Korean Vietnam War veterans, who by all historical accounts, served honorably and very competently in Vietnam. The video also is nostalgic for me because I associate it with my last year as a soldier in Korea.
Eric
Labels: romantic ideals, veteran
posted by Eric at 8/21/2008 07:00:00 PM
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