South Korea said yesterday it will send a 160-member artistic group to North Korea, including about 10 celebrated K-Pop singers, for rare concerts there.
The South Korean musical artists will visit Pyongyang, North Korea’s capital, from March 31 to April 3 and give two performances, according to a joint statement issued after the two Koreas met at a border village.
The development comes during a thaw in the North Korean nuclear crisis. A North Korean band performed in South Korea during the recently ended Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.
The South Korean delegation will include some of the country’s pop legends, including Cho Yong-pil, Lee Sunhee and Cho Jin Hee, who performed in Pyongyang during a previous era of detente. Popular girl band Red Velvet is also among the South Korean groups, the statement said.
South Korea last sent a pop singer to North Korea in 2005, according to Seoul’s Unification Ministry.
During yesterday’s talks, the two Koreas were unable to agree on which songs the South Korean singers will sing in Pyongyang, a potentially sensitive issue in a country where most citizens are blocked from accessing outside information. But South Korean delegates said they are optimistic an agreement can be reached, saying they will exchange letters via a cross-border communication channel. AP
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