Arirang is a traditional Korean folk song. It embodies the sorrow of the Korean people. So it is called Korea's second national anthem.

It is not exactly known when Arirang was composed. Arirang was sung from ancient times, and it has been added to and renovated. Finally it became today's Arirang. Many people enjoy the folk song as more than a hundred versions exist. The version of Arirang sang depends on the region. It consists of verse and refrain. The titles of different versions of Arirang were usually chosen by considering the place of origin or the meaning of the lyrics. Among them, the Jeongseon Arirang, Jindo Arirang and Miryang Arirang are well known.

The original song is Jeongseon Arirang. It was made in Gangwon Jeongseon 600 years ago. However the most well known version of Arirang is Bonjo Arirang. Bonjo means origin but it is not the first. It was made in Seoul Gyeonggi 100 to 130 years ago. It is also called Gyeonggi Arirang or Sin Arirang, Sin means new, but usually simply called Arirang.

In all versions of the Arirang, the refrain and each verse repeat. The refrain lyrics and verse 1 of Gyeonggi Arirang is . The meaning of the lyrics translated into English is Also the lyrics of verse 2 is mean and vers 3 is mean

Arirang is spread out across the entire country as well as overseas in other forms such as army for national independence Arirang or Yanbian Arirang.

A recent embarrassing thing happened. Last June, China designated Arirang as an intangible cultural treasure. China is in the process of listing on the UNESCO with Arirang as Chinese heritage. On the contrary, Korean activity to keep Arirang has been stepped up. And the Cultural Heritage Administration of Korea has been set up to list on the UESCO.

Kim Do-yeon  titi9273@changwon.ac.kr

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