N. Korea to stage 'Arirang Show' for foreign tourists from August

By Lee Chi-dong
SEOUL, Jan. 13 (Yonhap) -- North Korea plans to stage its trademark "Arirang
Show," a giant mass entertainment spectacle, in Pyongyang for three months from
Aug. 1 this year and will allow U.S. tourists to attend it, a U.S.-based tour
agency said Wednesday.
"We received confirmation from Pyongyang that the 'Mass Game' will run from
August through October 2010," the New Korea Tours, which specializes in tours to
the reclusive communist nation, said on its Web site.
The 90-minute performance is scheduled to run every evening except Sundays from
Aug. 1 till Oct. 10, the agency said, with a ticket priced at about US$100.
The Arirang Show, apparently aimed at promoting the North's socialist system,
features tens of thousands of performers carrying out synchronized gymnastics and
flipping colored cards to create giant mosaics at a huge stadium in the North
Korean capital. The agency described it as "the most magnificent show on Earth."
"Korean Americans have a unique opportunity to visit the North this year," it
said, adding slots assigned to U.S. citizens are limited and "being filled fast."
But South Korean passport holders are not allowed to join the tour program, it
said.
"After success of the Arirang Festival and Mass Games in 2005 and 2008, the
organizers decided to extend the Mass Games into 2010," the agency said.
lcd@yna.co.kr
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