Juche-oriented, Popular National Music

From olden times, the Korean people have created and developed their national music, while inventing various kinds of musical instruments and representing their desire and sentiments in songs.

In particular, such folk songs as "Arirang" and "Yangsando" consistent with beautiful and elegant, traditional melody and Kayagum, Tanso, flute, Janggu and other national musical instruments with peculiar tone quality are loved by all the people.

Under the guidance of the Workers' Party of Korea which attaches importance to the national music, the DPRK's national music has developed into a Juche-based and popular musical art conducive to the times and the revolution.

After Korea's liberation from Japan's colonial rule (August 15, 1945), President Kim Il Sung saw to it that dispersed musicians were called in, the national music heritages were discovered and studied and professional art troupes were organized. And he gave a classic formulation that the nucleus of the musical sector is the Korean national music and indicated the ways for smoothly developing it as the popular music.

In the 1970s when he guided the work to make a revolution in the literature and arts, Chairman Kim Jong Il made sure that the national music heritages were positively found out and re-created and re-depicted in keeping with the aesthetic taste of the times to be popular among the people.

He also led the work for creating new songs in the style of ballad and preserving the peculiar tone quality of traditional musical instruments and improving them modernly.

Thus, a lot of songs in the style of ballad like "Mt Myohyang, Unsurpassed Scenery" were created and new national string instruments and a mixed orchestra of the Juche type combining national instruments with foreign ones came into being.

Thanks to the guidance of the respected Comrade Kim Jong Un who encourages and develops the national music loved by the popular masses, songs in the style of ballad like "Sea of Apples at the Foot of Chol Pass" and "Song of Big Fish Haul", Korean-style musical works with the main stress on traditional musical instruments and new forms of rendition have been created to contribute to the development of the Juche-oriented music.