Arirang and Korean History

Here are the links to SG Wannabe's Arirang MV (It's in 3 parts since it's over 20 minutes long... ^^;)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rd3yizwdAas
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiwb-O-89z8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hMlbqF9kmQ

I've noticed that a few of Korean music videos are very long and aren't even "music videos" anymore. On the contrary, they look more like movie trailers or movies themselves. SG Wannabe's music video seems to be a prime example of this trend. I mean, it's twenty minutes long! Furthermore, there are breaks when the music does not even play, but goes into "movie-mode" where the actors will actually have a script to read. Actors are another thing--this particular music video actually features two actors, Ju-Hyun Ok and Bum-Soo Lee.

I think the music video allows the viewer to expand his/her understanding of the song. With just the song itself, I can make out a faint connection its original folk song counterpart with its emotion and the theme of a separation between two lovers. Watching the movie, however, I understand a strong sense of nationalism that I felt in Arirang songs such as the Gyeong-bok-gun Arirang along with the sorrow and grief of the Gin Arirang, for examples.

Also, from the music video, I feel a strong sense of dismay about the fact that Koreans are separated between North and South. The movie about General Yi also seemed to have this theme. Over the summer I watched a movie that had this same subject matter, called "Underground Rendez-vous" (만남의 광장). The movie tells the story
of a family that was separated by the North-South boundary. The film is packed with
comedy, the movie opens with a scene where the family actually helps the Russians
and Americans put up the barbed wire and fence, not knowing what was actually going on.
When finished with the work, the family on the "South" part of the fence calls
the family on the other side of the fence to come back to their side to go back home.
Of course, the Russians and Americans stop them as it is official that no one can
cross over the fence, now.

History is such an integral part of Korean culture that it dominates Korean film, music, and
other forms of pop culture media.

Here's a trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZGlfScwDag