"" (

Chosŏn'gŭl The Korean alphabet, known as Hangul, . Hangul may also be written as following South Korea's standard Romanization. ( ) in South Korea and Chosŏn'gŭl in North Korea, is the modern official writing system for the Korean language. The let ...

: ; ), officially translated as "Patriotic Song", is the

national anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and Europea ...

of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, more commonly known as North Korea. It was composed in 1945 as a patriotic song celebrating independence from Japanese occupation and was adopted as the state anthem in 1947.

Etymology

"Aegukka" is a Romanized transliteration of "The Patriotic Song"; the song is also known by its incipit ''Ach'imŭn pinnara'' or "Let Morning Shine" or in its Korean name or alternatively as the "Song of a Devotion to a Country". The ''

Encyclopedia of Korean Culture The ''Encyclopedia of Korean Culture'' is a Korean language encyclopedia published by the Academy of Korean Studies and DongBang Media Co. The articles in the encyclopedia are aimed at readers who want to learn about Korean culture and histor ...

'' defines "Aegukka" as "the song to wake up the mind to love the country". "Aegukka" in itself is differentiated from a national anthem. While a national anthem or ''gukka'' () is an official symbol of the state, ''aegukka'' refers to any song, official or unofficial, that contains patriotic fervor towards its country, such as

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...

's "

Szózat The "Szózat" (in English: "Appeal" or "Summons") is a Hungarian patriotic song. It is considered as a second national anthem of Hungary, beside the Himnusz. Usually only its first two stanzas are sung at national celebrations. The official ant ...

" or the U.S. "The Stars and Stripes Forever". However, the nationally designated "Aegukka" plays the role of symbolizing the country. In general shorthand, the term ''aegukka'' refers to the

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...

History

Originally, the Korean exile government (1919–1945) in

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...

, China adopted as their

Aegukga "" (; ; "Patriotic Song"), often translated as "The Patriotic Song", is the national anthem of the Republic of Korea. It was adopted in 1948, the year the country was founded. Its music was composed in the 1930s and arranged most recently ...

" (which has the same name with a different Romanization) to the tune of " Auld Lang Syne". After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

kept the words, put to a new tune (changed from " Auld Lang Syne"), while North Korea adopted this newly written piece in 1947. The words were written by

Pak Se-yong Pak Se-yong (7 July 1902 – 28 February 1989) was a North Korean poet and politician, best known for writing the lyrics of "Aegukka", the national anthem of North Korea. Early life Pak was a native of Dumo-ri, Outer old Seoul in what is now ...

and the music was composed by

Kim Won-gyun Kim Won-gyun (; 2 January 1917 – 5 April 2002) was a North Korean composer and politician. He is considered one of the most prominent, if not the most celebrated, composer of North Korea. He composed "Aegukka" — the national anthem of ...

. In the early 1980s, Kim Jong-il sought to reduce the song's importance to the benefit of "

Song of General Kim Il-sung The "Song of General Kim Il-sung" ( Korean: 김일성장군의 노래) is a North Korean marching song composed by Kim Won-gyun in 1946. As a part of an ongoing cult of personality, the song praising Kim Il-sung, North Korea's "Eternal Presiden ...

". The complete version of "Aegukka" consists two verses. On official occasions, when only the first verse is performed, it is customary to repeat the last four bars. However, if both verses are performed, it is the last four bars of the second verse that are repeated instead. "

" and "

Song of General Kim Jong-il The "Song of General Kim Jong-il" () is a marching song from North Korea. It was composed by Sol Myong-sun(설명순,1936-2012) and the words were written by Sin Un-ho(신운호,1941-March 24,2020) in 1997. The song praises the " Eternal Genera ...

" have since taken the place of ''de facto'' national anthems domestically, and "Aegukka" is reserved for representing North Korea internationally: when foreign dignitaries visit the country or North Korean athletes compete at international sporting competitions. "Aegukka" is almost unique among most North Korean patriotic songs, as it praises neither the

Workers' Party of Korea The Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) is the founding and sole ruling party of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, commonly known as North Korea. Founded in 1949 from the merger of the Workers' Party of North Korea and the Workers' Party ...

, nor the Kim dynasty, but rather the whole of Korea itself. "Aegukka" is played at the start of each of

Korean Central Television Korean Central Television (KCTV; ) is a television service operated by the Korean Central Broadcasting Committee, a state-owned broadcaster in North Korea. It is broadcast terrestrially via the Pyongyang TV Tower in Moranbong-guyok, Pyongy ...

's broadcast days.Archived a
Ghostarchive
and th
Wayback Machine

Lyrics

Notes

References

External links

Lyrics in English
at

Naenara Naenara () is the official web portal of the North Korean government. It was the first website in North Korea, and was created in 1996. The portal's categories include politics, tourism, music, foreign trade, arts, press, information technology ...

Lyrics in Korean
at

Lyrics in English
at

Kim Il-Sung University Kim Il-sung University, founded on 1 October 1946, is the first university built in North Korea. It is located on a campus in Pyongyang, the nation's capital. Along with the main academic buildings, the campus contains 10 separate offices, 50 l ...

"Aegukka" (mp3)
at Naenara {{Authority control North Korean songs Asian anthems National symbols of North Korea National anthem compositions in B-flat major National anthem compositions in C major National anthem compositions in D major