[imText1]North Korea’s state-run art magazine “Korean Arts,” in its latest issue, called for prevention of spreading “decadent dances.”
The magazine, quoting Kim Jong Il’s essay “On Dance Arts,” insisted on keeping tradition of socialist dance art and refraining from reactionary dancing trends.
Amid state media’s desperate attempts to avert foreign cultural incursion into the country, the argument symbolizes North Korean authorities’ fear of Western culture ‘invasion’ especially that of dance or music that can easily attract younger generation.
It is late 80s when Western style dances were first introduced to North Korea as students studied abroad in eastern European communist countries came back to Pyongyang.
Particularly the year 1989, in which the 13th World Youth and Students Fair was hosted by North Korea, experienced peak of popularity in Western dances among young North Koreans in their tens and twenties. North Korean youth at that time even enjoyed dancing with South Korean pop music, although most of them were not aware of where the songs came from.
While North Korea had embraced such limited level of freedom in cultural aspect until early 90s, the authorities started to tighten the control over the public since Rumania’s dictator and admirer of Kim Il-sung, Nicolae Ceausescu was executed by his own people and thousands of Chinese students protested against, and were crushed by, the communist regime in 1989.
And moreover, as starvation became widespread in mid-90s, nobody could even think about spending precious energy of theirs for dancing.
However, after the worst period of famine ended and much outside information infiltrated into the country, North Korean state media geared, again, to prevention of foreign cultural impact on the populace.
Nonetheless, young North Koreans are reportedly watching South Korean movies, music videos and even porno. And, despite the state art magazine’s warning, many youngsters from Pyongyang’s wealthy families often have dance parties, resembling those in Seoul and Western cities.
