There are five revolutionary operas in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

A radical turn was brought about in the production of operas in the first half of the 1970s under the wise guidance of the great leader Kim Jong Il.

It gave birth to new and unique operas of Korean style completely free from the established theories and forms of the opera art which had been fettered by old-fashioned and formulistic framework for hundreds of years.

The unique "The Sea of Blood"-style operas are characterized by the adoption of verse form of all songs instead of dialogues, a mannerism, and by the introduction of the unprecedented pangchang (off-stage song) into operas as an important means of portrayal. Also, dance was used as an essential means of portrayal and a running three-dimensional stage introduced instead of the long-standing stage formation so as to make the audience feel like seeing the real life, thus opening up a new path in the opera art.

Five Revolutionary Operas of Korea

The radical turn in the production of operas started in the DPRK with the operatic adaptation of the immortal masterpiece "The Sea of Blood" written by the great leader Kim Il Sung during the anti-Japanese revolutionary struggle. It gave birth to new revolutionary operas, "The Sea of Blood"-style operas.

July 17 this year marks the 53rd anniversary of the creation of the revolutionary opera "The Sea of Blood". The revolutionary opera "The Sea of Blood" adapted from the immortal masterpiece of the same title was created in July Juche 60(1971).

The opera shows that where there are exploitation and oppression, there will be resistance of the people, through the depiction of a simple and honest woman who gradually understands the revolution in harsh trials of life and sets out on the road of struggle.

The revolutionary opera "The Story of a Nurse" awarded the People's Prize was created in Juche 60(1971). It tells the story of a nurse who was boundlessly loyal to Kim Il Sung and the Workers' Party of Korea till the last moment of her life during the Fatherland Liberation War fought between 1950 and 1953.

The revolutionary opera "Tell O Forest" awarded the People's Prize was created in Juche 61(1972).

It shows the struggle of an underground political worker of the Anti-Japanese Guerrilla Army creditably discharging his duty in the enemy rear despite harsh trials during the anti-Japanese revolutionary struggle.

The revolutionary opera "The Flower Girl" adapted from the immortal masterpiece of the same title was created in Juche 61(1972). It profoundly shows the truth of inevitability of the revolution through the grim reality of Korea and the miserable life of the stateless people between the 1920s and the early 1930s.

This revolutionary opera was performed in many countries.

The immortal masterpiece "The Flower Girl", the theme song of the opera, is widely known at home and abroad.

The revolutionary opera "Song of Mt. Kumgang" was created in Juche 62(1973).

It tells of the reunion of the father and his daughter in the socialist motherland after more than 20 years of their separation during the Japanese imperialist colonial rule.

The five revolutionary operas of Korea are shining in history forever as the masterpieces which enriched the treasure house of the human culture.