N. Koreans forced to watch mass gymnastics shows
Starting in early November, North Korean authorities made it mandatory for many North Koreans to attend three mass gymnastics shows, Daily NK has learned.
“Starting early last month and ending Nov. 17, there were three performances of ’The Land of the People’ for North Koreans working in factories and those part of neighborhood and household units,” a Pyongyang-based source told Daily NK on Monday. “The show was put on hold in June [for foreign visitors] and the authorities apparently had to make up for all the foreign currency they could not earn during that time.”
North Korea’s mass gymnastics shows began in April 2002 on the 90th anniversary of Kim Il Sung’s birth, which was also the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Workers’ Party of Korea. The show was held yearly until 2013, and abruptly stopped in 2014.
Five years after that, in 2018, to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the founding of North Korea, the show reopened with the title “Brilliant Fatherland,” and this year reopened again with the title “The Land of the People.” ......
[Source: DailyNK]
