On March 31, 2017, South Korean ex-President Park Geun-hye was taken to a remand prison. Since then, Park is following the daily routine with fellow prisoners at the prison, which includes waking up at 6:30 to so-called prison alarm song 지킬수록 기분 좋은 기본, which literally translates to “Basics – the More You Follow Them the Better You Feel.”
This “prison alarm song” is played every morning at 6:30 across the prison. The song, which starts with the lyrics “Laws are not difficult, laws are not uncomfortable,” emphasizes the importance of law-abiding spirit. When the song plays, prisoners have to wake up and make their beds before the morning roll call.
The full lyrics of the song translate as following:
Laws are not difficult, laws are not uncomfortable
Laws help us, laws keep us safe
The world is good to live when the laws are kept
We all can be free in the Law
Keeping small things make you feel largely satisfactory
The good world where the basics are established
The good world where the basics are followed
Let’s start now
The basics that make you feel better
The more we all follow the better we feel
Original article by Han Young-hye
Translated by Heewon Kim
