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Western-style circus performances were first introduced to Korea by Japan. The circus enjoyed its popularity in South Korea until the proliferation of mass media. The short history of circus in South Korea has been buried in oblivion, as it was not included as part of the governmental effort to preserve traditional culture during 1980s. In this special report, Young Sun Jeon, HK Research Professor at the Institute of Humanities for Unification in Konkuk University, claims that the art of circus took a different path in North Korea. The circus was renamed as Kyo-ye and was legitimized by the state as propaganda art and the rightful heir of Korean traditional culture. The author elaborates on how North Korea cunningly uses the art of Kyo-ye and its appreciation of human bodies as part of their ideologies, while condemning its Western counterpart as a frivolous capitalist pursuits.
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