Pyongyang (AsiaNews) – Despite major flooding which killed at least 400 people and left another 300,00 homeless, North Korea’s Communist regime has decided to go ahead with the Arirang mass propaganda festival, which takes place in August every year in Pyongyang.
Known as ‘mass games,’ the event lasts two months, ending in a synchronised gymnastic show involving about 100,000 people.
Called Arirang, the festival is the regime’s showcase event—through it the country pays tribute to the “spiritual and political” legacy of its founder, Kim Il-Sung, and whips up love for his successor, his son Kim Jong-Il.
The government has not been able however to ignore the damages caused by flooding and heavy rains.
Yesterday it called on the international community to provide aid for the displaced, something which it had hitherto refused to do in the name of self-sufficiency.
Government sources also confirmed that North Korean President Kim will meet his southern counterpart Roh in late October.