Observing protests in Koreatown 2024

I was in New York in December 2024 when I came across a protest in Koreatown. It took me a moment to work out what it was about. The crowd was singing Christmas carols and waving neon glow sticks, not what I had pictured when I heard the word 'protest'. Once I understood the context, it made more sense. President Yoon Suk Yeol had declared martial law on 3rd December, alleging the National Assembly was engaged in anti-state activities. Parliament overturned the declaration within six hours, but the political fallout lingered, drawing condemnation from both the opposition and his own party.

The protest I stumbled into in Koreatown was one of many that followed, but it was unlike anything I had seen. A sound system, a sing-along, and carols instead of chants. What struck me was the deliberateness of the choice. Light-hearted protest is not simply a protest that happens to be cheerful. It is a specific strategy. By choosing carols and glow sticks over chants and placards, the crowd was making a point about what kind of movement this was: peaceful, civilian, rooted in ordinary life rather than confrontation. A more conventionally angry crowd hands the media a simpler story.

That choice has stayed with me. In advocacy, how you say something is rarely separate from what you are saying. The crowd in Koreatown understood that. Carols did what chants could not.