The repeated dispute over the activist commemorative song “March for Our Beloved” mirrors South Korea’s history of political confrontation, with the conservative repressing what they deem as rebellious ideology and the progressive lashing back against what they consider to be the ruling power’s dogmatism.

This year, the dispute also appears to serve as a yardstick as to how much the presidential office is willing to step beyond its conventional frame and reach out to the political opposition.

“The decision is up to the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs,” Cheong Wa Dae spokesperson Jeong Yeon-guk told reporters on Tuesday, in reference to the ministry’s earlier decision not to designate the song for the state ceremony for the May 18 Democratization Movement.

Under the current protocol, the disputed song is to be sung by a professional choir while attendees may choose whether to sing-along. The opposition circle has been requesting that the song be re-designated as an official anthem so that all will have to sing-along.

President Park Geun-hye, in her recent meeting with the floor leaders of key political parties, had gestured at embracing the opposition’s call.

“I will instruct the MVPA to find a solution that does not cause a split in public opinion,” said President Park Geun-hye last Friday.

Her words were directed to both opposition parties -- The Minjoo Party of Korea and the People’s Party -- but especially to the latter’s floor leader Rep. Park Jie-won who had brought up the issue at the meeting.

The People’s Party, speaking for the southwestern city of Gwangju and the surrounding Jeolla provinces, has its reasons to advocate the disputed song.

The citizens of Gwangju, having experienced a violent crackdown during the democratization protest back in 1980, have long considered themselves as victims to political powers, as well as aliens to the nation’s economic development. For them, the government’s official recognition of responsibility and expression of respect for the historic demonstration is the key to all communication. And designation of the song would be part of that.

When the former conservative Lee Myung-bak administration struck the song off the official protocol, citing public opinion split over allegedly radical lyrics, it aggravated the decades-long grudge of the Gwangju-Jeolla regions.

But the presidential office, even facing an opposition-dominated legislature, has few reasons to appreciate the activist song, which many conservatives deem to be provocative.

According to leading conservative civic groups, including the Korean Disabled Veterans’ Association by Agent-Orange in Vietnam War, the song carries antigovernment, pro-communist messages. They claim that the term “beloved” in the song refers to North Korea’s deceased communist leaders Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il and the term “new day” refers to a North Korea-led unification.

Backing their claim, they point out that the song was sung in the official ceremonies of the former Unified Progressive Party, which was disbanded in 2014 for what the Supreme Court defined as antigovernment activities.

But former North Korean figures, such as Rep. Ha Tae-keung, argue that the song is forbidden in North Korea and is in no way connected to the communist regime.

Some experts pointed out that political circles should focus more on the gist of the event which the song is supposed to commemorate.

“The key point of the May 18 democratization spirit is to promote citizens’ basic rights, not to discuss the status of the song,” said Song Ho-keu, a professor of sociology at Seoul National University.

By Bae Hyun-jung (tellme@heraldcorp.com