Photos by CATHERINE JUN Students rehearse for the Korean
Culture Night in the Dance Building Wednesday night. They will be
performing tonight and Saturday at 7 p.m. in Freud Playhouse.
By Mary Williams
Daily Bruin Contributor
UCLA students will be promoting a political message today and
Saturday, but this time it has nothing to do with the policy of the
UC Regents or even that of this country.
Instead, a message of Korean reunification will be presented at
Korean Culture Night, hosted by the Korean American on-campus
organization Hanoolim, and held in the Freud Playhouse.
“We’re sending a political message,” said the
director of the event, Joe Hong, a fourth-year economics student.
“We’re saying that North Korea and South Korea should
be reunited because we are one people, and we’re promoting
that through our performances.”
The night’s theme is “Man Nam,” a Korean word
that translates as “meeting.” It refers to the many
recent meetings between representatives of North and South Korea in
an effort to promote peace.
The theme will be represented through a variety of performances,
bringing together modern and traditional Korean culture.
Among those performances are “Hip Hop and Gayo,”
demonstrating popular song and dance, “Poong Mul,” a
presentation of traditional Korean drumming, “Bu Che
Chum,” a traditional Korean Fan Dance, and “An Jin Ban
Poong Mul and Rock Band Fusion,” melding different aspects of
Korean entertainment traditions.
 Jeannette Mekdara practices her fan
technique dressed in a traditional "Hanbok" outfit. There will also
be two documentaries, two skits, a Tae Kwon Do demonstration, a
comic relief segment and a speech by Dr. Donald Chung.
Chung’s speech, as well as one of the skits, will be about
his life story as told in his autobiography, “Three Day
Promise.”
Chung lived in a North Korean town when the Korean War began.
When he was 18-years-old he left home to follow a South Korean army
as it retreated, and he promised his mother that he would return in
three days.
He was forced to join the South Korean army and, without any
training, was sent to the front lines. When the war ended he was
one of 26 young men from his area that survived out of an original
156.
After the war he went to medical school in South Korea, but
could not go back to his home. In 1962 he came to the United
States. When he finally was allowed to return to North Korea, he
discovered that his mother had already died.
“I think he’ll touch a lot of people about the
sadness that has come from those times and between him and his
mother,” said fourth-year English and philosophy student Tim
Chung, who wrote and directed one of the skits.
Today Donald Chung is a cardiologist at the Long Beach Memorial
Hospital.
He earned over half a million dollars with his autobiography
published in 1989, all of which he donated to a Korean War memorial
in Washington, D.C.
“Without the allies’ sacrifices, especially over
30,000 young American G.I.’s sacrifices, I could not find
freedom, and I could not come to the United States. Therefore, I
owe all my prosperity and success to the people who shed their
blood,” Donald Chung said.
His speech will explain the events of his life and advance the
theme of reunification.
“He went through that life of being separated, and he
really wanted to meet his family, but his mother died when he went
back,” Hong said. “He doesn’t want that to happen
to other Koreans who are separated.”
Preparation for Korean Culture Night turned into a learning
experience for the students involved.
Tim Chung, whose skit is about current Korean issues, said that
it taught him a lot about the past and present situation in
Korea.
“I met a lot of people who experienced the historical
events in Korea personally, and I learned a whole lot about Korean
history by writing my skit,” he said.
Hong also said that preparation for this event, which took over
six months, was a good experience in learning leadership and
organizational skills.
“I went through so much and I learned endurance and how to
lead people, perseverance and patience,” he said.
More importantly, Hong hopes that the audience each night will
benefit from the experience and learn more about Korean culture and
history and that the message of reunification will be accepted.
“I hope the audience can realize that North Korea and
South Korea are not enemies,” Hong said. “We’re
friends and families and relatives.”
EVENT: Korean Culture Night will be held
tonight and Saturday in the Freud Playhouse at 7 p.m. Performances
are the same each night. Tickets are free and are available at
Central Ticket Office.