South Korean singer denies new song ‘Lady Who Looks Like Michael Jackson’ satirises presidential hopeful Yoon’s wife
- Yoon Suk-yeol, opposition candidate, criticises An Chi-hwan’s new track for ‘crossing certain lines’; some say song is about Yoon’s wife Kim Keon-hee
- But An says the number makes fun of Choi Soon-sil, the behind-the-curtains female mastermind of disgraced former President Park Geun-hye
Musician An Chi-hwan’s new rock number, “Lady Who Looks like Michael Jackson,” is causing rather a stir, with presidential hopeful Yoon Suk-yeol apparently fuming as the song allegedly satirises his wife Kim Keon-hee.
Facing multiple allegations of misconduct, she has been at the centre of a number of scandals in the lead-up to the March 9 election with Lee Jae-myung of the liberal Democratic Party of Korea and conservative People Power Party candidate Yoon locked in a tight race.
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Released on February 11, the song’s cover sleeve has a caricature portrait of the late American artist that resembles Kim. Many phrases in the song end with a word that sounds exactly how “Keon-hee” is pronounced and the lyrics refer to a “lady who changed her face and name many times,” possibly referring to Jackson and to Kim – she is rumoured to have had plastic surgery and is known to have changed her name.
Yoon, the main opposition candidate, told reporters on Monday that he felt “sorry for my wife that, because of my political campaign, she has had to suffer a lot in this unworthy attack against me”.
Calling Jackson “a great musician who wholeheartedly took care of people across the world,” he said it “feels grotesque even to see Michael Jackson being used in this undeserving way”.
The song’s lyrics also read, “No more, no more, one such person is more than enough,” which some people assume reflects An’s animosity toward Kim.
“Why are you doing this? What do you want? You must know yourself,” are other lyrics viewed as reflecting An pointing a finger at Kim.
The musician responded to Yoon on Tuesday by posting a statement on his YouTube channel “An Chi-hwan TV”.
He said the song satirises Choi Soon-sil, the behind-the-curtains female mastermind of former President Park Geun-hye during the latter’s term from 2013 until her imprisonment for corruption after being impeached in 2017.
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An dubbed Choi “the dark shadow of an authority who threw many Koreans into despair”.
“I made this song out of the concern that a similar nightmare could happen again,” he said. “I hope these thoughts reach all of those who view (the video) and listen to the song.”
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An added that although he wrote the song, it is up to listeners to evaluate and interpret it. “I saw that there are various interpretations of my latest song. Some reviews were positive, while others were sharply critical. I humbly accept all of them,” he said on the video platform.
The song has led to a slew of criticism from internet users, as well, in particular, claims of misogyny. Others have reproached An for his song’s disrespectful attitude toward Michael Jackson, who died in 2009.
