hankyoreh

North Korean films are easily accessed on YouTube. (captured image from YouTube)

North Korea experts predicted the exchange of performing arts would contribute to fostering a climate of reconciliation and cooperation at each turning point in inter-Korean relations amid exchange efforts in the areas of traditional, classical, and popular music.

“The establishment of a peace regime on the Korean peninsula was confirmed in summits between the leaders of South and North Korea and North Korea and the US, but the definite relaxation of lifting of sanctions on North Korea will need to happen before the pace of inter-Korean cultural exchange efforts can be determined,” predicted Park Young-jeong, head of the Korea Culture and Tourism Institute’s arts policy research division.

“To prepare for that, we’re going to need to consider organizing joint inter-Korean festivals or establishing an inter-Korean cultural exchange center in Kaesong,” Park suggested.

Improved access to North Korean culture is a helpful first step in reducing the sense of emotional distance ahead of full-scale cultural exchange. A YouTube search alone turns up a number of different North Korean performances broadcast on Korean Central Television (KCTV). University of North Korean Studies professor Lee Woo-young explained, “With North Korea showing an approach of openness, everything there is becoming available almost in real time through YouTube and social media.”

“We’re in an age now where it’s not difficult to glimpse into North Korea,” Lee said.

Artists who defected from North Korea are also receiving growing attention. Choi Shin-a, director of an eponymous dance troupe that performed in North Korea, said, “Requests for North Korean dance performances are coming in even from the provinces as the inter-Korean climate improves.”

“I get the sense that the desire for exchange is greater in South Korea than in North Korea,” Choi said.

The performing arts community has been moving quickly in response. The theater community has proposed launching an inter-Korean theatrical exchange committee and holding a “peace theater festival” in North Korea to promote theater-related exchange efforts, which have been suspended for 13 years since a June 15 festival in 2005. Former Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra conductor Chung Myung-whun is working to invite North Korean singers to a “peace concert” in Seoul this September. The National Gugak Center is following up a North Korean dance research effort last year with preparations for an academic conference on North Korean opera this year.

By Kim Mi-young, staff reporter

Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]