Wind and Flow - Korean history, nature, and harmony with Yangbans singer Jun Bum Sun

Written by Jamie Finn (@jamiefinn2209)
Photos by Hak (@lucidminds)

On paper, Jun Bum Sun is a contradiction. A radical eco-vegan activist with a distinctly forward-thinking ethos but whose ideas and aesthetics are deeply rooted in Korean history and tradition. This dichotomy, and others, are woven through an impressive resume of creative pursuits and social enterprises. He describes himself as a writer first and foremost, yet he is also a publisher, a poet, a historian, a bookstore owner, and, up until recently, a restaurateur. Perhaps most famously, however, Bum Sun is the creative force behind the rock band Yangbans. Through his various projects, the charismatic performer has always tried to advance his progressive social ethos, though his attitude towards that advancement has changed over the years.

"I used to be very angry," Bum Sun tells us with a smile. "I felt angry about so many things. I used to think that the only way to really change the world was through revolution. I still see the value in revolution, but now I am more focused on harmony. I want to create harmony and balance."

“Everything we do is nature. The towns we’ve built are as much nature as a bee’s hive, but we don’t feel that way. We feel different, separate. We need to move past that, like the Donghak teachers showed us.”

This shift in thinking is probably best represented by his approach to music. Formally known as Jun Bum Sun & the Yangbans, the singer dropped his name from the band's title in an effort to create further unity among the members. "I've also democratised the band. I listen more and take more input."

While creative input is increasingly shared among the members, Bum Sun still takes his role as band leader seriously as he tries to shape Yangbans into something that reflects his socio-political ethos. "I've worked with them to help them connect to nature," he tells us. "Our new EP (Wind and Flow) was written in the woods of Jirisan. The five of us went on a retreat there for a week. We spent time at the temple, along the river, meditating. Then we'd come back late and jam. They'd create music while I wrote poetry. Now, we only make music in nature, and our next EP will be deeply connected to nature."

According to Bum Sun, the band's newfound sense of harmony reflects the five elements of Eastern philosophy. "In the West," he informs us, "the idea is that there are four elements, but part of Asian philosophy is the idea that there are five elements or 오행순환. In our band, we try to each adopt the role of a different element - I am the tree, our bassist, being the most fiery one, is the fire, the drummer is gold, our synth player is water, and our guitarist represents earth. This way, we can be more harmonious, not only with the natural world but also with each other."

While producing music may be an exercise in harmony and balance, his approach to writing is much sharper and more logical. "Both come from a place of love and wanting the world to be better, but my music is a different kind of love. It's about connection and also having a really good time. My writing is often more pointed and critical as I address specific problems I see in the world. As a result, it is usually more rational, too."

Bum Sun is an accomplished writer, having authored two books, co-authored a further three and is a regular contributor to several publications. His passion for the written word undoubtedly stems from his youth - his mother still runs a second-hand book store. Books have always been a big part of his life, which was part of the reason he decided to start his own publisher. 

“Think about it, people feel the most connected when they are listening to music. That’s why music is always a big part of religions and spiritual movements. That’s why I want to make music.”

"I had just left the military, and after two difficult years, I was eager to do as many different things as I could." His publishing company, Dooroomee (meaning "crane"), was set up to promote animal rights. "When we first started, there weren't many Korean writers working on books about animal rights. We had to focus on publishing English-language books translated into Korean. Over time, we've completed our mission of getting more books written from a Korean perspective on animal rights."

"That's not always easy," he explains about the difficulties of building grassroots veganism in Korea. "Many on the left here still see veganism as a bourgeois, Western thing. Much of that is because of the language used; we're creating new ways of expressing veganism to help create more synergy."

Bum Sun eventually followed in his mother's footsteps of owning a bookstore, though in a very different direction. "The store I owned, Poolmoojil, had been around for 30 years when I acquired it. It's the oldest radical bookstore in Seoul and is iconic for its role in Seoul's activism scene."

"I actually got that store for free. The previous owner wanted it to be run by someone who shared the community-driven philosophy that he had. In hindsight, though, owning the store was a mistake." Bum Sun gave up ownership of the legendary Poolmoojil, and now both it and the publishers are part of Animal Liberation Wave (ALW).

The ALW was founded in 2017 by a high school friend of Bum Sun named Ji-yen Lee. While the two were studying at Oxford, they both shared their frustrations with the lack of animal rights groups in Korea; "there were some animal protection groups, but they mainly focused on the dog meat industry, which is very important. We wanted to broaden that to include all sentient beings, though."

Bum Sun came on board in the early stages of the organisation as an advisor, helping to shape the group's philosophical framework. Recently, the group started setting the groundwork for Korea's first cow sanctuary. "We've rescued six cows and even managed to convince the local government to give us a disused elementary school to house them in." Bum Sun visited the location recently to meet with the local village elders and give a presentation about the group's upcoming cow sanctuary. "I'm not sure they really got what we are trying to do," he added, "I think they thought we were just some nice kids. But they understood that we want to save animals. It so happens that there are four or five large cow farms there, and they work in the beef industry. Ironically, though, they have been very welcoming to us and even given us advice on raising cows."

The story of how Bum Sun arrived at where he is now started when he was young and developed a deep-seated passion for history. "I wanted to find out about where I am from and to answer some questions: Why is Korea divided? Why do I have to serve in the fucking military?"

His questions led him to the USA, where he studied history at Dartmouth. "The USA is the architect of South Korea as a nation-state, and so many of the recent changes in our culture come from there. If I wanted to understand my country, I had to go to America."

After receiving his degree, he went to Oxford to do his Master's because "if America is the architect of South Korea, the UK is definitely the architect of America," Bum Sun jokes. 

In recent years, Bum Sun has turned to more Eastern ideas for guidance and away from the more troubling and corrupt Western mindset. "All of the problems that I have observed in the world and all of the things I am fighting against - the meat industry, imperialism, capitalism - anything that has been an obstacle to my idea of freedom and peace came from the "Western modern civilisation." That's not to say that the West is to blame for everything, but so many things that define me come from the West. I wanted to find an alternative to that, so the most natural thing to do was to find the Eastern alternative and look for sources of inspiration and change in the East."

The eastern philosophy that really appeals to Bum Sun is called Donghak. This makes sense since, as he puts it, "Donghak was originally created, in part, as a reaction to Western ideas, particularly Christianity, that were encroaching in the East."

"It was an attempt to synthesise Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism," he goes on to explain," which are all very different things but are brought together under Donghak. The main idea of Donghak is to coexist with nature and empathise with marginalised people. One thing that really draws me into Donghak, though, is the emphasis on music and dancing. I am interested in it as a political and philosophical idea, but I also enjoy its connection to music, dancing, and celebration. It's not just a philosophy; it's a way of life.

"Think about it," he goes on to explain, "people feel the most connected when they are listening to music. That's why music is always a big part of religions and spiritual movements. That's why I want to make music.

The Donghak thinker who initially inspired the singer was Jeon Bong-jun, who led the Donghak Revolution of 1894. "He really influenced me. On the cover of my second album, Revolution Songs, there's a photo of me dressed like him taken in the style of an old photo."

Bum Sun's interest in revolutionaries is what drew him to Jeon Bong-jun. "Up to that point, my interest in revolutionaries always pulled me West, to events like the French Revolution and the American Revolution. Jeon Bong-jun was my gateway to Korean revolutionary thinkers."

Since then, he has become more interested in the founder of Donghak, Choe Je-u. "In 1860," he explains, "he begins meditating, achieves enlightenment, starts writing poetry, and begins singing and dancing. Four years later, he was executed, but his followers went on to start a revolution based on his teaching. This is the real birthplace of the Korean republic, not on a state level (which the USA is responsible for) but from a people's perspective."

Bum Sun is worried that younger generations are increasingly losing touch with the ideas of Donghak and coexisting with nature. "Lots of people, especially younger people, don't really have any experiences with nature. Their only experience with animals, other than dogs and cats, is when they're in the form of meat. People are becoming alienated from nature and increasingly only seeing animals exclusively as commodities."

Climate change is the most urgent issue facing the planet right now, according to the singer, and this disassociation with nature is a big part of that. "I believe we're entering into a post-human era, where our identity as humans will not be our most important identity. We need to identify as animals, and increasingly we need to reconstruct our relationship with the network of living things on the planet and learn to coexist with the systems around us. We need to realise that we are the planet. We are part of nature. We will all die one day and go back to the earth. The idea that we're divorced from the world and thinking of ourselves in capitalism's "rational man" paradigm needs to go, and we need to start thinking of ourselves as part of everything."

"Everything we do is nature," he says as our interview comes to an end. "The towns we've built are as much nature as a bee's hive, but we don't feel that way. We feel different, separate. We need to move past that, like the Donghak teachers showed us."

"...I hope that my words and my music can be a part of that.

For more information on Jun Bum Sun, follow him @junbumsun. Follow Yangbans @yangbansmusic.