Korea’s renowned diva Insooni, clad in a splendid white dress, sings Arirang, Korean people’s beloved folk song. Her soulful rendition of Arirang captivates the audience, who has gathered to celebrate the 2012 Arirang Festival.

The 2012 Arirang Festival was held from June 15 through 17 at the National Museum of Korea in Seoul. The three-day celebration featured several interesting events, ranging from an academic seminar discussing the cultural meanings of Arirang and its position in the world and a concert with Korea’s hottest pop stars to a family-oriented theater play and a number of hands-on programs.

Marking its second year, the Arirang Festival was first held in 2010 to mark the G20 Summit in Seoul and the 60th anniversary of the Korean War. Here’s the festival’s artistic director Yoon Jung-kang to explain more about the fete.

It is said that where there are Koreans, there is Arirang, and where there is Arirang, there are Koreans. I think the number one icon of Korean culture is Arirang, and it should be a brand promoted overseas. The theme for this year’s Arirang Festival is “K-pop Arirang, K-dance Arirang.” As K-pop grows more popular worldwide, perhaps K-pop stars can sing Arirang in overseas performances and we even composed an arirang song that is easy to sing along. K-pop is also hot in Europe, because its dance routines are really appealing. So we came up with an Arirang choreography that is fun and easy. I want the world to know more about Arirang through the song and dance.

The K-pop song “The Arirang,” containing both the merry and sorrowful aspects of the Korean psyche, is a new modern adaptation of traditional Arirang. Its rhythm and melody is so catchy that you can’t help but shake your body and sing along. Here’s the festival’s artistic director Yoon Jung-kang for more.

It’s hard for foreigners to understand the sentiment behind the song Arirang. So we made the melody a bit easier for them to understand. They may not comprehend the lyrics of the song, but they get the rhythm of the beat. So we made it more fun for foreigners to follow. That way, Arirang would be more accessible to foreigners and the first thing they think of when they think of Korea.

Koreans call Arirang the second national anthem or the song of the Korean people. The song evokes poignant emotions in all Koreans and leaves lingering sentiments after hearing it. Koreans sing Arirang when they are sad and when they are happy. Here’s Professor Park Ae-kyung of the Department of Korean Language and Literature at Yonsei University to talk more about the emotional significance of Arirang for the Korean people.

Arirang lives in the Korean people’s shared memory. Every Korean knows the song, from a baby to an elderly, even someone who lives abroad. All Koreans have a common memory of Arirang, a cultural archetype that can be transformed or extended to another cultural form. The Korean people tend to identify with hardship, and which is why Koreans are inclined to project themselves in the life’s ups and downs represented in the lyrics of Arirang.



Arirang is an oral tradition passed down through generations of Koreans. No one is certain about its origin, although there exist several different versions. But one thing is clear – the Korean people’s heart and soul are found in Arirang. When a Korean feels lonely in a faraway foreign place or misses the homeland, Arirang is the first tune one hums for comfort. Here’s President Kwon Oh-sung of the Arirang Globalization Committee to explain more.

There are 7.5 million Koreans living around the world. Among them are 200 thousand ethnic Koreans in Uzbekistan and 100 thousand in Kazakhstan, who were forcefully relocated there during the 1930s. Even though their families have lived for decades, they tear up when they hear Arirang. They say the song reminds them of their lost homes. It’s the same in Japan. Many Korean-Japanese people say they sing this song when they reminisce about Korea.

Arirang represents the long, underlying sorrow of the Korean people. Just like different regions have their own way of making kimchi, Arirang is infused with distinct local flavors.

Roughly one thousand different renditions of Arirang have been passed down over centuries - Gyeonggi-do Arirang, Gangwon-do Arirang, Jindo Arirang, Jeongseon Arirang, Miryang밀양 Arirang. It seems just about every geographical region boasts its own version of Arirang. But as Korea becomes more industrialized, the traditional song is increasingly being neglected. To make matters worse, China has alleged recently that Arirang is its indigenous culture and is pushing to have it registered with UNESCO as its own. Such preposterous claims and renewed interest in Arirang have led to the inception of the Arirang Festival.

There have been several Arirang-themed festivals, but they were quite serious and historical in nature. Our festival this year aimed to make Arirang a more familiar topic, close to our hearts. That’s why we included K-pop concerts and family-oriented events, such as the children’s play “Go, Go, Arirang!” in this year’s program.

The festival organizers went all out this year to make Arirang the hottest buzzword. An Arirang adaptation, “K-pop the Arirang,” had Korea’s double-ended drum livening up the tune.

Renowned pianist Kim Cheol-woong, a North Korean defector, gave a stirring performance of Arirang Sonata.

These performances and events showcased many different sides of Arirang and attempted to close the gap between the cultural icon and the audience. But the event that drew the largest crowd was none other than the Arirang singing contest.

Judging from the touching way she sings the song, this middle-aged contestant must have sung Arirang pretty often. Here’s the contestant Park Young-hee.



I’ve been looking forward to the festival for a long time. I love Arirang. Today I sang Gyeonggi Arirang. I really like this song, because it has our ancestors’ sorrow and longing in every verse. I expect to take the top prize.

The children’s play “Go, Go, Arirang” was created to teach children about Arirang in a fun and engaging way.

“Go, Go, Arirang” is about the fictional Arirang Village that holds a wrestling match to choose a man strong enough to remove a large boulder from the street. Wrestlers from five regions – Miryang, Jindo, Jeongseon, Seoul, and North Korea – compete and whenever each one of them appear on stage, an Arirang version from his region is performed. Here’s the play’s director Nam In-woo to tell us more about it.

Arirang is wonderful because of its local versions. Although Arirang’s main theme is the Korean people’s sorrowful soul, each regional variation has a different style, concept, and story. For instance, Jindo Arirang is merrier, so it’s a great tune to dance to, and Miryang Arirang has a fast drum beat, so it well represents the strength of Korean farmers. Less familiar to us is Pyongyang Arirang originated in North Korea, which communicates a yearning for unification. I wanted to show that when the powers of all these different Arirangs were combined, we could chase away the bad spirits or overcome obstacles.

By incorporating Arirang into a story, the play impressed upon children that Arirang is not an old song sung only by old people, but rather a fun song to sing along.

- I don’t usually sing Arirang, but got to sing along while I was watching the play.
- It was a good idea to turn each regional Arirang into a human representation. So it was easy to remember and accept unfamiliar Arirang songs.
- I never knew that Arirang could be so fun and so diverse. It was fun watching the story of Arirang played out in the form of a wrestling contest. I was really into it.

When Arirang was played at the end of the play, the young audience gave a thunderous applause and sang along with the case. Arirang had gained a new fan basis by reinventing itself.

The highlight of the 2012 Arirang Festival was the Smiling Arirang concert. The weekend musical concerts featured traditional master singers and K-pop stars. Famed R&B group Sweet Sorrow moved the hearts of visitors with an a cappella version of Arirang.

We realized how beautiful and sad the song was while singing it. Our group is known for the harmony, so we made our version softer and sweeter. I think we must have sung like a hundred times to perfect it.

Traditional Arirang is sometimes sorrowful and sometimes merry. But Sweet Sorrow’s rendition was romantic, mellow, and harmonious. Another hot pop group, Sistar, sang an Arirang performed in the 1926 film “Arirang” directed by Na Wun-kyu.

Adapted into Sistar’s unique singing style, Arirang became an entertaining and uplifting tune for everyone to enjoy. Arirang seemed to have become culturally richer by having Korea’s traditional folk song combined with trendy and global K-pop. Judging from the rave audience response, the imaginative reinvention of Arirang undoubtedly appealed to a wider range of people. Soon we can hope to see Korea’s Arirang registered as a UNESCO intangible cultural heritage and performed all over the world.