President Yoon holds hands with families of the May 18 Democratization Movement survivors
At the 'May 18 Democratization Movement Commemoration Ceremony' held at the May 18 Democracy Cemetery in Gwangju on the day, the 'March for the Beloved' was sung in the form of a chant. This is actually the first case of a conservative government.
President Yoon Suk-yeol also sang vigorously while holding hands with the attendees in the seat next to him, including the families of the May 18 survivors, waving them back and forth.
It is interpreted that the May 18 commemoration ceremony was a starting point to show the will to end conflict and unite.
Some 100 lawmakers, including Chairman Lee Jun-seok of the People Power Party (PPP), attended the ceremony.
In particular, the party is said to have distributed the sheet music of the ‘March for the Beloved’ to lawmakers in advance to sing the song at the ceremony.
After the event, Chairman Lee said about his feelings about proposing the ''March for the Beloved,” saying, "There were some among our party personnel who individually sang it, but today, it seems meaningful because it is a party-level policy that we should all sing it together."
He added, "The change we chose today, and the change we should have taken, but late, I hope it is an irreversible change that will never go back to the past."
On the other hand, the chanting of the 'March for the Beloved' has caused controversy and conflict every year before and after the ceremony, going back and forth between conservative and progressive governments.
Since 2004, the year after the May 18 legal commemoration ceremony, the song has been performed as a chorus at the official ceremony every year.
At that time, former President Roh Moo-hyun and others who attended the ceremony stood up and sang the song together.
However, in 2009, the third year of the Lee Myung-bak administration, the 'March for the Beloved' was excluded from the official ceremony.
Entering the Moon Jae-in government, however, former President Moon ordered to sing the song at the 2017 commemoration ceremony, and he also sang the song at the ceremony.