This paper examines how musicians from North and South Korea have articulated gestures of reconciliation through the circulation of composed Arirang across the divided peninsula. Recognized by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2012, Arirang embodies the Korean affect of han and historically carried collective sentiments under Japanese colonial rule. Since the Korean War, the song has been continually adapted and reinterpreted on both sides. Rather than treating Northern and Southern musical practices separately or framing them within ideological binaries, this study highlights works that cross borders, including performances in the opposing regime, transnational exchanges, and inter-Korean collaborations.

Three case studies illuminate these dynamics: (1) North Korean composer Choi Sung-hwan’s Arirang Fantasy (1976), which premiered in Japan, was later performed in South Korea, and conducted by Lorin Maazel with the New York Philharmonic in Pyongyang; (2) Handol’s Arirang Alone (1989), sung during Cho Yong-pil’s 2005 Pyongyang concert at North Korean request and later performed by a North Korean art troupe at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics; and (3) the 2019 “Arirang Medley” collaboration between South Korean haegeum performer Jeong Gyeo-woon and North Korean so-haegeum performer Bang Dal-hwa.

Through score analysis, performance reviews, and interviews, the paper argues that Arirang functions not only as shared cultural memory but also as a medium of empathetic listening—one that invites gestures of unity by challenging boundaries between tradition and modernity, nationalism and transnationalism. Its transborder trajectories exemplify a “deterritorialized cultural flow,” (A. Appadurai 1996) fostering new affective communities despite enduring political division.