BBC News have recently reported about the ‘Peace Concert’, held annually at Nuri Peace Park in the South Korean city of Paju, which is located near the border between North and South Korea.
The article goes into detail about the concert, which is held right next to the demilitarized zone and aims to promote peace between the two countries, which as you likely already know, are technically still at war with one another.
The concert is free to attend and organised by broadcaster MBC, the Ministry of Unification, and local authorities. The concert is held over a weekend, and features performances by a variety of K-Pop stars and classical musicians.
However, as the article points out, the real reasons behind the concert and it’s effectiveness at promoting peace between North and South Korea is of much debate:
“North Korean defectors have previously said that South Korean entertainment helped them learn the realities of life outside their country.
“This is the same as when Germany was divided into East and West,” says Prof Kim. “The people of East Germany longed for better lifestyle and higher quality of life of West Germany through their media experiences.”
Although given there is no involvement from North Korea and the concert will not be seen or heard there, some say it serves more to draw tourists to the area and generate revenue from the TV broadcast in South Korea.”
You can read the BBC’s full article here, and also watch their television report on it here.
[Source: BBC Website, BBC Facebook].
