K-Pop Legend, Lee Seung-chul, Made His Unification Song Debut with North Korean Defectors at Dokdo

Published on 2014/08/23

On August 14, K-Pop singer Lee Seung-chul, led a choir of young North Korean defectors, 'With-U', to sing his new song, "The Day", along with the Korean traditional song "Arirang" at Dokdo Island.

This project was inspired by one courageous man, Il Kon Yoon, who envisioned a united North and South Korea. Il Kon Yoon is a North Korean native, who was one of the few North Koreans to have a relatively comfortable life in North Korea. However, despite his "fortune" he decided to leave everything behind, and risked his life to escape to South Korea where there would be more opportunities and resources to fulfill his vision. His journey to his promise land was not easy. He lived in complete poverty, destitute of basic necessities, which eventually drove him to the brink of suicide; until one day, he met Jesus Christ, and converted to Christianity. His new faith, restored hope in his vision and he found the strength to finish his journey to South Korea.

However, life in South Korea wasn't easy either. Defectors such as himself are ridiculed and looked down upon. They have to go to great lengths to try to disguise their identities, such as lying that their thick North Korean accents are from the South Korean countryside. Il Kon Yoon knew that to have his voice be heard, he needed the help of someone influential like, K-Pop legend, Lee Seung-chul.

Lee Seung-chul and Il Kon Yoon met this past March, where Il told the singer his story, and the united Koreas he envisioned and proceeded to ask for the singer's help. Lee Seung-chul realized the best way to help would be through the power of music and wrote a unification song, "The Day", to be performed with With-U. With-U is a choir comprised of 55 men and women between the ages of 20 and 30, who are all North Korean defectors like IL Kon Yoon. The stories of the members of this North Korean choir are currently being documented and will be broadcasted on TV.

Inspired by Il Kon Yoon and With-U, Lee Seung-chul took the idea one step further and started the One Nation (ON) campaign. The famous Spanish painter Eva Airmisen designed the logo and design for the ON campaign. Fueled by his enthusiasm and enthusiasm for the cause, Lee Seung-chul said that it was now his dream to lead this group of young men and women and perform at instrumental institutions like the UN or Harvard University to help raise awareness. His dream has now finally become a reality. Lee will be performing at Harvard University on August 29 along With-U. Lee Seung-chul states, " I believe in hope and that hope can be conveyed through music, even in the most desperate times. Because music is universal and transcends cultural boundaries, it has a special way of bringing people together. That's what inspired me to start this unification campaign".

Lee Seung-chul conducted With-U on August 14 and perform his song "The Day", along with " Arirang " at Dokdo. Dokdo Island, otherwise known as the Liancourt Rocks, has been the area of great controversy between Japan and Korea. The fight for the Dokdo islands has been going on for decades. More importantly, it is the one area in which North Korea and South Korea agree upon. The two polarized nations have built a united front to defend Dokdo as inherently Korean land. Performing at Dokdo turned out as the ultimate symbolic gesture of unification that defines the ON campaign and what Il Kon Yoon first envisioned.

The making of "The Day" was a collaborative effort with arranger and producer, Bang Eun Yang; the Korean Symphony Orchestra; and Grammy award winning mix engineer, Steve Hodge. "The Day will be released in three versions: a Lee Seung-chul's solo version in Korean, a Lee Seung-chul and With-U choir version, and an English version in August.

With "The Day" kick starting the ON campaign, Lee Seung-chul hopes that these efforts can serve as a stepping stone to help cur the plight of the North Koreans.