A revolution in the production of operas was brought about in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in the first half of the 1970s under the energetic guidance of the great leader Kim Jong Il.
It started with the work to adapt the immortal masterpiece "The Sea of Blood" written by the great leader Kim Il Sung during the anti-Japanese revolutionary struggle as an opera.
In 1972 after the creation of the opera, the revolutionary opera "The Flower Girl" adapted from the immortal masterpiece of the same title was created.
The opera profoundly clarifies the truth about the inevitability of the revolution through the tragic reality of Korea between the 1920s and the early 1930s and the tearful life of the ruined people.
The opera consists of prologue, seven scenes and epilogue.
It raises the issue that any sincerity and sympathy can never save the destiny of such poor people as Kkot Bun, the heroine of the opera, in the colonial society and gives the profound ideology that the working people should go vigorously along the road of revolution, bearing in mind that they have the strength to save themselves.
The revolutionary opera "The Flower Girl" organically combines music and drama with verse-songs.
Pangchang or off-stage song was applied to the opera according to dramatic situations in new styles such as solo and duet along with male and female small and large group singings and mixed group singing.
Such off-stage songs made it possible to deeply show the mental state of characters in keeping with the characteristics of the opera and represent the sympathy of those on the stage as well.
The orchestral music that properly combined national musical instruments with the Western ones retained the emotional features of the masterpiece through beautiful and diverse timbre and rich artistry.
The opera also pioneered a new phase in its dance and stage art.
The revolutionary opera "The Flower Girl" is widely known to the world as a monumental work which has reached the highest level in the opera art of the DPRK.
Art troupe of Korean schoolchildren in Japan leaves
The art troupe of Korean schoolchildren in Japan led by Ri Chol Su, Principal of the Korean Primary School in Toshun, left
January 14, 2026
The art troupe of Korean schoolchildren in Japan led by Ri Chol Su, Principal of the Korean Primary School in Toshun, left
