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Before and during Roh Moo-hyun's visit in the DPRK, on the occasion of of the "N-S Korean Summit" early October, it was highly disputed (mainly) in the S.K. (bourgeois) media if he should attend the Arirang Mass Games performance, scheduled by his N.K. hosts. Well, finally he "enjoyed" the performance.. Actually not surprisingly, not really.. Because, short before his trip to N.K., Roh (f.. stupid as he is!!) told the S.K. public that he sees no difference between the Arirang Mass Games and the participation of S.K. teenagers in TV shows, such as song contests, or stuff like that.

Today's Asia Times (HK) published following impressive report, written by Kim Hyun-sik (*) about the reality of Arirang Mass Games:

Bitter tears behind Pyongyang's games

Among the many tales of North Korea - anecdotes and observations from my own life as a professor at the Pyongyang University of Education for nearly 40 years - is North Korea's internationally famous mass games, a grand spectacle of rigorous gymnastics, elaborate group dance and dazzling flashing cards.

The games - also known as the Arirang mass gymnastics games - represent the sum total of North Korea's ideological and aesthetic expression. The performance, which involves the participation of 100,000 Pyongyang City students, is not only a composite blend of art with gymnastics, but aspires to aesthetic perfection by employing the highest degree of human athleticism and creativity. But beneath the outward grandeur flow the blood, sweat and tears of children...

I wish to tell the world that the Arirang mass games .. is nothing but an elaborate show. It is an act to show off the North Korean people's loyalty, solidarity and iron will in serving their Kim Jong-il...

..(the world) should be keenly aware of the bitter tears that Pyongyang's young students and their parents shed from their participation in these mass games. Almost all the elementary, secondary and college students living in Pyongyang, totaling 100,000, participate in the games.

The background (cards) section alone requires some 20,000 participants. Participation in the mass games is not voluntary; rather, it is unconditional and mandatory, in accordance with the orders of the Workers' Party. The students move together in unison according to the military command system. All students are transported for practices and performances by hundreds of military trucks that are also on call to carry heavy artillery in case of war.

The mass games take place in a stadium in Pyongyang for several months, beginning with Kim Il-sung's birthday (also known in North Korea as "The Day of the Sun", April 15). During this period, all classes are suspended. The participating high school seniors suffer lower scores on their university entrance exam. To remedy this problem, the North Korean authorities have even instituted a system of free additional points to the students' test scores to compensate for their participation in the performance.

The students that physically and mentally suffer the most are the 20,000 who are in the cards section of the performance. These students must quickly fold and unfold the heavy cards at the flag signals with undivided attention for the entire duration of the three-hour performance. Since they must remain alert and cannot go to the bathroom during the performance, the male students urinate into the plastic bags at their seats and the female students have no choice but to wait or to urinate on the floor. As a result, a number of female students suffer from chronic cystitis throughout their lives.

Those students holding the cards containing pieces of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il's faces and body parts on them must be particularly careful throughout the three hours of the performance. Even one mistake results in punishment for the student, as well as his or her parents and classroom teacher. One time, my daughter was the teacher of a student who made a mistake during a performance. The student's parents as well as my daughter were summoned each night to the department of National Security, where they came under fierce ideological criticism for the student's mistake and were forced to write a letter of self-criticism.

From the following day, my daughter was ordered to lie down right below the student bench in the stadium to make sure that the errant student would pay attention throughout the performance. Many students fall to the ground due to the heat from the sun, extreme hunger, and high nervous tension and exhaustion. However, the spirit of the ideological struggle still makes them stand back up on their feet.

It is impossible for the student participants to fill up on the one roll of bread that the authorities distribute for lunch. So their parents can't help but bring home-made vegetable soup and feed their children so that the soup can supplement their sons' and daughters' daily ration of bread.

Since the mass games require tens of thousands of students to move together in unison like a machine, these student participants suffer all kinds of hardship and indignities. The flashy and impressive performance ... is borne with cursing, merciless beatings, harsh ideological indoctrination, self-criticism writings and group punishments meted out by the teacher and the authorities...

 
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Korea/IK08Dg01.html

* Kim Hyun-sik, former professor and dean of the Foreign Language Education Research Department, Pyongyang University of Education, North Korea and a former private tutor to the family of leader Kim Il-sung. Kim Hyun-sik was a visiting professor at Yale University from 2003-06 and is currently a research professor at George Mason University.