Love of Country
The Mountains And Waters OF Koryo, My Beloved!
by Rowe Kwangwook Song Chon Wolson
Whether in the South or in the North,
Wherever we may be living,
Are we not all of us loving brothers?
The mountains are lofty, the waters clear,
Oh, the lovely hills and streams of Koryo;
My country and my beloved!
Encountering Love of Country "Chon Wolson"
In April 1985, she was invited to sing in Pyongyang – her first performance on the Korean Peninsula.
Then in 1994, she sang the leading part of Carmen (Bizet), which was performed to celebrate the 600th anniversary of the capital’s founding. Although Wolson realized that the people of both Koreas are the same ethnicity, she also felt the pain of people divided between the north and south. It was in Seoul that she encountered the song Love of Country – an old tune that did not have a title at that time.
Originally created by a Korean-American, this song was to be performed in Los
Angeles accompanied by an orchestra in the 1980s, but the composer could not
find any Korean-American who would sing it at that time. Later around 1990,
students engaged in the South Korea’s democratic movement recorded the song
accompanied by a piano play. In 1994, Wolson came upon a cassette tape recording
of this performance in Seoul.
Back in Japan, Wolson began to sing Love of Country in various places. At first
she had no score in her hands and had to copy down the tune from the tape
recording and sang to the piano on her own.
Korean residents in Japan who heard this song, which is about the pain of Korea
divided in two and desire for reconciliation, cried thinking of their family
that they could not meet.
She looked for the author of the song, but nobody knew the person either in
South Korea or North Korea.
In January 1996, a mail from Washington reached her. It contained a full score for orchestra and a letter. The sender was the composer of Love of country. He learned of Wolson singing his song and wrote the letter through a Korean-American who heard Wolson singing the song during a Christmas concert in Japan.
Wolson flew to Washington to meet Rowe Kwangwook in May 1996. The singer – a Korean resident in Japan, and the composer – a Korean resident in the United States – finally got together, despite the differences in their circumstances of leaving their homeland behind. Despite the passage of time, the song remained intact.
The same year, Wolson sang the song accompanied by an orchestra, with a
conductor who was supposed to perform the song in the 1980s in Los Angeles. The
shows were broadcasted in both Japan and South Korea.
Rowe, the composer, visited Japan in 2004 and was among the audience of a
concert celebrating the 20th anniversary of Wolson’s career.
In December 1996, Wolson flew again to South Korea. It was to sing Love of
Country – a song that had not been sung there for a long time – in a live
performance on South Korea’s national broadcaster’s New Year eve program.
Her performance reminded the people of South Korea how much Korean residents in
Japan, the United States and the estimated more than 5 million Korean living
abroad all love their motherland.
…and today, she keeps singing Love of Country in Japan, Korean Peninsula and all
over the world.
