'Memento mori': A nation at a crossroads

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'Memento mori': A nation at a crossroads

Published: 04 Jun. 2025, 00:05

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

Kim Myung-hwa

The author is a playwright and director.

By drawing from an iconic parable and a modernist stage masterpiece, one might find an uncanny parallel to Korea’s fractured political reality. German playwright Bertolt Brecht’s “The Caucasian Chalk Circle” (1944), a reinterpretation of the biblical Judgment of Solomon, offers a haunting allegory for our times.

In the Old Testament, King Solomon resolves a dispute between two women claiming to be the mother of the same child. His command to cut the child in two exposes the true mother — the one who relinquishes her claim to save the child’s life. In Brecht’s adaptation, the conflict is not between two biological claimants but between the child’s birth mother, the wife of a military governor, and a servant named Grusha who has raised the boy during wartime. The judge ultimately awards custody to Grusha, valuing compassion and care over bloodlines.

A scene from a performance of Bertolt Brecht’s “The Caucasian Chalk Circle”. [KIM KYUNG-HWA]

Brecht, having witnessed the destruction of war and the rise of fascism, envisioned a new moral order rooted in responsibility rather than privilege. For him, love and sacrifice mattered more than legal or biological claims.

What judgment would Solomon or Brecht render if they were to examine Korea’s current political theater?

The presidential election followed a period of extraordinary national turmoil. The country, shaken by the imposition of martial law and its aftermath, was thrust into a vote whose urgency and unpredictability exposed deep divisions. The outcome, though decisive, offered no sense of honor or renewal. Instead, it revealed the extent to which public discourse has been reduced to a pit of mutual distrust, immorality and ideological vendettas.

Despite the remarkable economic and democratic strides Korea has made since colonization and war, this election has made clear that such progress has not healed the nation’s political fractures. The cost of polarization is on full display, and it is a loss for everyone.

“Memento mori” — remember you will die. In ancient Rome, generals returning from victory parades were accompanied by a slave whose job was to whisper this sobering phrase. Today, the victors of Korea’s election would do well to heed that warning. Humility, not triumphalism, is what the country needs.

Yet already, familiar patterns emerge. People line up to curry favor with the new power, and factions begin redrawing their battle lines. If the past is any guide, the cycle of division will continue. So again: memento mori.

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.