Juche

    Extravaganza “Arirang” was staged on a grand scale at the May Day Stadium in Pyongyang, DPRK during the last decade drawing attention of the world.

    It can be an event that will be specially recorded in the building of the DPRK’s art and literature and the human history of art and literature that “Arirang”, estimated as the integration of the DPRK’s development of art and literature in the era of Songun, was created.

    This monumental masterpiece which fully displays national strength of the DPRK and spirit of the Korean nation is a fruition of energetic guidance of leader Kim Jong Il, master of art and peerless politician of music.

    While leading the grave Songun revolution, leader Kim Jong Il initiated in October, 2000 to create a grand mass gym and artistic performance on the occasion of the 90^th birth anniversary of President Kim Il Sung and concretely taught such basic problems for its creation as its theme and content, structure and title, way of representation, etc. In 2001 he clarified that the grand mass gym and artistic performance should deal with a century-long history of the Korean nation and all contents and forms should be newly solved by combining the destiny of the nation with the WPK’s history.

    Leader Kim Jong Il taught that it was better to name its title “Arirang”, saying that there are many songs on Arirang in Korea.

    Korea has many songs “Arirang” which are regarded as folk ones. There are many songs “Arirang” created newly in the era of Songun. Song “Arirang” contains feeling and history of the Korean nation.

    Leader Kim Jong Il said that the songs “Arirang” created in the last period reflected sorrow of the Korean nation and therefore, it was enough to use the song two or three times in an intensive manner at the grand mass gym and artistic performance. He also said that they should use many songs “Arirang” created nowadays.

    In addition, he chose music one by one to be depicted in the grand mass gym and artistic performance. Sometimes he corrected a singer in her representation and sometimes gave detailed instructions on the problems in depicting peasant dances, the traditional folklore dance of the Korean nation. As a result, the grand mass gym and artistic performance “Arirang” can be a peculiar work which strongly reflects the national character of the Korean nation and displays its own freshness and originality in conformity with the requirement of the 21^st century.

    The grand mass gym and artistic performance “Arirang” consists of prologue, 4 chapters and epilogue. It makes clear ideological and thematic content of every chapter with the era of Songun, the most meaningful era in the history of the Korean nation, as a centre and clarifies the path of shaping the destiny of the nation. It has artistic characters which are as high as to represent the art of a new century such as beauty and harmony of its structure, combination of gymnastics and art, strong national colour, introduction of up-to-date technology, etc. The grand mass gym and artistic performance “Arirang” was listed on the Guinness Records in 2007 as the biggest mass gym and artistic performance of the world.

    The Korean people will hand down forever the immortal exploits of leader Kim Jong Il who provided them with the grand artistic masterpiece which shows the past, present and future of the Korean nation with one piece of folk song.