'What Do North Korean Performance Venues Look Like?'... National Gugak Center to Hold North Korean Music Symposium on the 26th

On the 26th, a session held on the theme of 'North Korea's Architecture and Performance Venues'

How have North Korea's performance venues developed and transformed over time? The National Gugak Center announced on the 24th that it will hold the 9th North Korean Music Academic Conference under the theme "North Korean Architecture and Performance Venues."

The National Gugak Center announced on the 24th that it will hold the 9th North Korean Music Academic Conference under the theme of 'North Korean Architecture and Performance Venues.'
[Photo by National Gugak Center]

The "North Korean Music Academic Conference" has been held annually since 2005 to promote understanding of North Korea's national traditional arts after the division and to explore the development direction of Korean ethnic music and arts in preparation for unification. This year's conference will take place on the 26th at 2 p.m. in the Yeinmaru Seminar Room of the National Gugak Center.

Under the moderation of Professor Lee Woo-young from the University of North Korean Studies, presentations will be given on ▲ "North Korean Architecture and Performance Culture Facilities" (An Chung-mo, Kyonggi University) ▲ "Current Status and Characteristics of North Korean Performance Venues" (Park Young-jung, University of North Korean Studies) ▲ "Characteristics of Flow-type Three-dimensional Stages in North Korean Performance Venues" (An Kyung-mo, Yongin University) ▲ "Operating System and Characteristics of the North Korean Yun Isang Music Hall" (Jang Yong-cheol, Yun Isang Peace Foundation) ▲ "Spring Comes Performance and East Pyongyang Grand Theater Seen on Site in Pyongyang" (Kim Hyun-kyung, MBC).

In the second part, moderated by Professor Kim Hee-sun of Kookmin University, a special performance and a comprehensive discussion will be held. North Korean defectors and artists, haegeum player Park Sung-jin (graduate of Pyongyang University of the Arts) and accordion player Lee Hyo-joo (graduate of Chongjin Teachers College), will perform special pieces including "Ongheya," "Hollo Arirang," and "Shostakovich Waltz No. 2." The sohaegeum is a four-stringed haegeum improved in North Korea during the 1960s, and the accordion, known as "sonpunggeum" in North Korea, is a popular instrument there.

The comprehensive discussion will include four related experts: Min Kyung-chan (Emeritus Professor at Korea National University of Arts), Min Kyung-tae (Professor at the National Institute for Unification Education), Kim Ji-ni (Konkuk University Unification Humanities Research Group), and Ryu Jeong-sik (Ghost LX Director).