Just read The Korean's post about how Arirang belongs to Korea (sorry, the post seems to be down at the moment), in response to Roboseyo's post about how nobody owns Arirang.
Roboseyo posted this on his blog and I found it so moving, I had to share with you. The New York Philharmonic performs Arirang in North Korea.
Thank you for sharing that Roboseyo.
In regard to whether or not Arirang is Korean, I don't even know why this is a question. It seems to be more about whether a national entity can claim to own a culture, than about if Ariring is really Korean. The former issue seems, to me, to be a bit silly. I mean, if the Korean government is spending money to promote Korean food, doesn't that, in some sense, mean that the culture is inextricably linked to the country? Culture is ever changing in this age of globalization, but just because cultures are being combined and spreading outside the national borders, doesn't mean that all of a sudden, it's not the originating nationality's culture.
Arirang is Korean. Period. Does Korea "own" Arirang? I guess not, since anyone who wants to can sing it and play it and perform it, but no doubt about it, it's Korean.
- Mary
