GANGNEUNG, South Korea — Facing enormous pressure and scrutiny, North Korea’s only elite athletes at these Winter Olympics delivered the best performance of their career on Wednesday in pairs figure skating, helping to enliven a mostly subdued, half-empty arena.

The skaters, Ryom Tae-ok, 19, and Kim Ju-sik, 25, have zero chance for a medal. But that is not their measurement of success. Their aim was to finish in the top 16 among 22 pairs in the short program, enabling them to participate in the long program on Thursday. They accomplished their goal, finishing 11th in the short program with a personal best of 69.40 points from the judges.

Ryom and Kim come from the world’s most isolated nation, but, to a point, they appear open and expressive and embracing of outside influences. Their choice of music Wednesday was an instrumental version of the Beatles’ “A Day in the Life,” as performed by the guitarist Jeff Beck, and the mostly somnolent crowd responded by clapping along during the song’s signature tempo change.

“We could really feel the power and energy of the Korean people,” Kim said before the skaters hurried through an interview area without stopping. Still, they were clearly elated with their performance. Ryom jumped into her coach’s arms as she left the ice, and the pair stood and pumped their fists when their score was announced.