Pledge of Allegiance (South Korea)

The Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag (Korean: 국기에 대한 맹세; Hanja: 國旗에 對한 盟誓, lit. '"Oath facing the national flag"') is the pledge to the national flag of South Korea. The pledge is recited at flag ceremonies immediately before the South Korean national anthem.

The South Korean flag, also known as the Taegeukgi (lit. '"Supreme ultimate flag"').

History

The current pledge was introduced on July 27, 2007.[1] A previous pledge of allegiance was used from 1972 until 2007 and was introduced by then-president Park Chung-hee. Unlike the current pledge which pledges allegiance to the state of South Korea, the 1972 pledge rather pledged allegiance to the "Korean race," also known as the minjok.[2][3][4][5][6][7]

In the mid-2000s, the pledging of allegiance to a "Korean race" (or "Korean ethnicity") was criticized by some people,[8] specifically for being racist and "not appropriate at a time when South Korea is becoming a multiracial and multicultural society."[9] This version of the pledge was discontinued in July 2007, during the presidency of Roh Moo-hyun,[10] and replaced with different wording. Some right-wing South Koreans condemned the rewording of the country's pledge of allegiance, as it went against their ideology.[11]

Similarly, until April 2011, the South Korean army's soldiers swore allegiance to the "Korean race" in their oaths of enlistment until that, too, was discontinued for similar reasons.[4]

Text of the pledge

See also

References
  1. Moon, Gwang-lip (July 9, 2007). "Pledge of allegiance is revised yet still resisted". Joong-ang Daily. South Korea. Archived from the original on March 24, 2016. Retrieved March 24, 2016.
  2. Kelly, Robert E. (June 4, 2015). "Why South Korea is So Obsessed with Japan". Real Clear Defense. Archived from the original on March 24, 2016. Retrieved March 24, 2016.
  3. Myers, Brian Reynolds (September 14, 2010). "South Korea: The Unloved Republic?". Archived from the original on May 19, 2013. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
  4. "New Pledge of Allegiance to Reflect Growing Multiculturalism". The Chosun Ilbo. South Korea. April 18, 2011. Archived from the original on April 20, 2011. Retrieved April 20, 2011. The military has decided to omit the word 'minjok,' which refers to the Korean race, from the oath of enlistment for officers and soldiers, and replace it with 'the citizen.' The measure reflects the growing number of foreigners who gain Korean citizenship and of children from mixed marriages entering military service.
  5. "Nicholas Eberstadt Transcript - Conversations with Bill Kristol".
  6. "Nicholas Eberstadt on Understanding North Korea".
  7. "South Korea: The Unloved Republic? | Asia Society". www.asiasociety.org. Archived from the original on 9 June 2015. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
  8. "유시민 의원 '국기에 대한 맹세는 파시즘 잔재'". Chosun Ilbo (in Korean). May 2, 2003. Archived from the original on January 8, 2006. Retrieved January 8, 2006.
  9. Jeong, Jeong-hun (2006), "A pledge to a nation, or a gang oath?", The Hankyoreh, South Korea: The Hankyoreh Media Company
  10. Myers, B rian R. (December 28, 2016). "Still the Unloved Republic". Archived from the original on March 13, 2018. Retrieved March 13, 2018.
  11. Myers, Brian Reynolds (20 May 2018). "North Korea's state-loyalty advantage". Free Online Library. Archived from the original on 20 May 2018. Although the change was inspired by the increase in multiethnic households, not by the drive to bolster state-patriotism per se, the left-wing media objected ...
  12. http://theme.archives.go.kr/viewer/common/archWebViewer.do?singleData=Y&archiveEventId=0049319880
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