[imText1]We were off to Pyongyang for the Arirang Mass Games. Expectations were high, since we had all heard so much about the show before coming to the country.
The mass games are one of the few cultural items that North Korea is globally famous for; a stark contrast to what people usually connect North Korea with – its aggressive foreign policy and nuclear ambitions – or at least one might think so.
But we were soon to discover that the Arirang show was just another symbolic manifestation of the North Korean state’s twisted self-perception. The propaganda pictures displayed by the colored sheets of paper that the twenty thousand or so children were holding above their heads in the backdrop of the stadium told the tale of a gloriously successful nation in which all, and perhaps especially the children, are given enough to eat, and are able to live prosperous lives despite the threat of war from the United States.
The show covered virtually all the standard North Korean propaganda tales; the tragic division of the nation due to U.S. “occupation” was mentioned, as were the hopes that the South Korean people would one day break free from capitalist oppression, and last but not least the country’s claimed military strength and willingness to fight any aggressor that might attempt an invasion. The usual stories, but in pictures.
Before going to the show, we traveled briefly through a celebratory Pyongyang. All the men of the capital seemed to be dressed in the same white shirts and black pants, and all the women wore a colorful hanbok (which is apparently not the name used for this unique pan-Korean traditional dress in North Korea, my guide corrected me later).
Virtually everywhere, people were moving in large groups, symbolically led by a kind of squad leader. Passing briefly by Pyongyang’s “fun fair”, it seemed to be totally stacked by smiling people, and it struck me that today would have been a perfect day for a propaganda photo shoot, since people – not all, but more than usual – seemed genuinely happy. I quickly figured that it could have had a lot to do with the fact that they were off work for once. Nevertheless, the rare public displays of fun were numerable today, giving Pyongyang a more humane face than it usually seemed to have.
After the Arirang show the streets on the way to the hotel were packed with people. We asked our guide to let us take a short walk since, for once, people seemed relaxed and open, but we should have known that Mr Kim didn’t want to let a group of sneaky tourists roam the streets, especially not when there were so many people out.
We had to take a detour to avoid the aftermath of the huge military torch parade held earlier in the evening; we were told that only “trustworthy” visitors were allowed to see it, since it could reveal military secrets. But back at the hotel, with access to both CNN and a Japanese TV channel, the explanation proved ironic. We realized that people in our respective home countries probably knew more about what was going on in the country we were in than we did. This was for example the first time we heard the rumors of Kim Jong Il having a stroke, even though they had been circulating in international media reports for days.
[imText3]
[imText4]
[imText5]
[imText6]
[imText7]
[imText8]
[imText9]
[imText10]
[imText11]
[imText12]
[imText13]
