'Mass mind' in North Korea

I didn’t believe it at first. As we pulled up to the May Day Stadium in Pyongyang, the guides in our bus said it had a capacity of 150,000 people, the biggest arena in the world.

I later learned that it is true, the first surprise of the evening.

We were there to see the Arirang Mass Games, an event that is a perfect metaphor for the group think of North Korea. It was magnificent and chilling at the same time.

During the eighty-minute show, tens of thousands of performers flood on to the field, dancing and singing and marching in praise of the North Korean revolution and its leaders. Without doubt, it is the world’s grandest propaganda exercise.

What makes it so mind-boggling is that the performances are nearly flawless: Row upon row of children doing one-handed somersaults, or teen-agers running in perfect formation across a massive field.

Youngsters who take part train for months, and it is drilled into them that the slightest error ruins the show. Teamwork is absolute. They are called the Arirang Mass Games, but it also could be called an exercise in ‘mass mind.’ I pity the performer who makes a misstep. Their family is likely on reduced rations.

Equally as amazing as the on-field activity is what happens in the stands on the entire other side of the stadium. There, some 12,000 schoolchildren sit, each holding colored flip-cards that when held up form giant murals. The murals and mosaics change constantly during the show. Within a few days at the mcclatchydc.com website, you’ll be able to see a longer, more professional video of the show and the background murals.

I was so busy filming and taking pictures of the Games that I didn’t get a chance to write down many of the slogans. One that flashed up said, “Independent powerful nation,” according to the guide next to me. In general, the slogans exalted the revolution, farmers and workers, the greatness of North Korea, and devotion to the Dear Leader, Kim Jong Il, who was not in attendance on Aug. 29, the night we were there.

The ticket prices are high. We were told there are four categories: $300 for the box seats, $150 per seat immediately behind them, $100 and $50. It was pretty steep.

There’s no show like it. It was awe-inspiring, like an Olympics opening ceremony taken to a far higher degree, but also disturbing. Surrender to the group. Act as one. Don’t think for yourself.

Comments

[Michael]

How many people paid to see the show do you think?

[Tim]

Couldn't tell. I tried to film people in the stands but was abruptly told by a minder that it was not allowed. I can say I saw dozens of Europeans in several groups. But the crowd was predominantly North Korean, and I imagine they paid almost nothing to go.

[Marvin L Foushee]

In the North Korean mindset of Hollywood, California, and Letterman, NYC, and George M Bush, Washington, D.C., such flawless performances are called challening Satan and channeling Lucifer. In China, it is called getting Falun Gonged or getting George W Bushed. It is mind-chilling and numbing, isn't it?