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It appears that President Roh Moo-hyun will end up watching the controversial North Korean Arirang mass calisthenics during the Oct. 2-4 inter-Korean summit in Pyongyang. Composed of literally a cast of thousands flashing colored cards at the same time, as well as large numbers of performers taking part in a highly regimented performance that emphasizes group dynamics, Arirang praises late North Korean leader Kim Il-sung and his son, incumbent leader Kim Jong-il. In an Arirang performance in 2005, there was a scene where a North Korean soldier felled a South Korean soldier using a bayonet, while in April, the performance praised the communist country¡¯s successful nuclear test. There is no way of telling what will be in the upcoming performance.
For the Arirang performance, a total of 100,000 people, including kindergarten and elementary school students as well as workers, must train for six months until they turn into a mass performance machine. That¡¯s why this performance has been cited as abusing North Korean children.
According to the testimony of North Korean defectors, one side of the May Day Stadium where the performance takes place often smells of urine. That¡¯s because students are not allowed to leave their positions while practicing the flash card performance. So they simply urinate while sitting down in their seats. Many children are said to end up getting bladder infections. One wrong move and children are clubbed and punished in groups. Kim Hyun-sik, former professor at Kim Hyung Jik College of Education, said the Arirang performance was ¡°soaked with the blood and tears of the North Korean people.¡±
Regarding questions as to whether the South Korean president should attend such a performance marred by allegations of child abuse, South Korean Unification Minister Lee Jae-joung retorted whether the lengthy training of South Korean children for a play or sports event could be viewed as abuse was uncertain. Regarding North Korea¡¯s human rights violations, Lee pretended not to know, saying human rights issues should be interpreted according to the unique circumstances of a particular society. He added that there was no concrete evidence of human rights violations in the North.
Lee used to be a clergyman. Yet after he became a minister, he simply shut his eyes when it comes to North Korean human rights abuses. What¡¯s worse is that he simply chose to ignore North Korea¡¯s abuse of its children by comparing it to a South Korean sports event for children. It didn¡¯t matter to him whether North Korea forced its children to train while prohibiting them from even going to the bathroom.
Lee¡¯s comments raise doubts whether he really was a man of God. It even makes us suspect that his religious position was just a front to cover up his real identity as a professional revolutionary. What will be the emotions running through the minds of North Korean defectors when they watch President Roh sitting side by side with the North Korean leader, applauding at the Arirang performance?
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