Arirang, Kim Jong Il, and the Wisdom of Muhammad Ali

The proper rejoinder to the plaintive whine, “Why do they hate us?” is “Are they nuts?” The Chosun Ilbo is the latest publication to beg the question after attending the international propaganda fiasco known as “Arirang.” In this case, the answer probably has a lot to do with the participants’ sheer terror of making the slightest mistake.

The show aims to convince the audience that ruler Kim Jong Il and his late father, Kim Il Sung, have brought peace and prosperity to North Korea. One scene shows a bountiful harvest, with dancing children dressed as chickens and eggs.

In another scene, children dancing with perfect discipline and precision thank Kim Jong Il, whom they call “the Dear Leader,” for the plentiful milk they drink. It hardly reflects reality in a place where famine has killed untold numbers of people and where the World Food Program says malnutrition still tops 37 percent.

In a nation where attendance at regular indoctrination classes is mandatory from a young age, the crowds cheer as the messages flash by. A guide who is monitoring the foreign reporters proudly praises the creativity of “the dear leader.” “He is a genius in the artistic sense. He is very genius in music and gymnastics and stuff like that. He made several songs himself, [and has] written several songs,” she said. “He directed and gave direction to those people who were writing the scenes on what way to write them. He is a genius.”

For an outsider’s perspective, they interviewed an Irish tourist and heard more of that famed Celtic love of obedience, subservience, and conformity:

An Irish tourist, speaking after leaving the country, calls the visit, a good, but at times “weird” experience – one that confirmed much of what he had heard about North Korea. Watching the precise performance by young children at the Arirang games made him reflect on the regime that put it all together.

“[It] was the most incredible thing, having these kids [who] look not more than four or five years old, all perfectly choreographed, doing hand stands and cartwheels and different kinds of movements,” he said. “You can imagine the headache for all to work as one. But of course, that is the point of North Korea, that everybody follows orders from the top and you see this everywhere in society.”

Personally, I think Muhammad Ali put it best.