South Korean artists will make four-day visit to Pyongyang as relations continue to improve

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

South Korea has said it will send K-pop singers to perform in North Korea for the first time in more than a decade.

More than 150 artists, including K-pop stars, are to visit Pyongyang from 31 March, Seoul said on Tuesday, in what will be a reciprocal visit after North Korea sent performers to the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.

The visit, which was agreed after talks between the countries in the border area of Panmunjom and will include a series of concerts, will last until 3 April, South Korea’s unification ministry said.

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The group will include the K-pop girl group Red Velvet and the veteran singers Cho Yong-pil and Lee Sun-hee, the ministry said.

Cho was the most recent South Korean singer to perform in North Korea, at a concert in Pyongyang in 2005.

The singer and record producer Yoon Sang, who led South Korea’s delegation at the talks on Tuesday, said: “While we’re on the stage, I believe it will be difficult to portray personal feelings towards denuclearisation.

“Our first task will be to instil the same awe in North Korean audiences as we do our South Korean ones, and make sure nothing is awkward.”

Further negotiations, such as deciding the songs to be performed, will not be done face to face, he said.

The visiting group will perform two shows in Pyongyang, one at the East Pyongyang Grand Theatre, which hosted a landmark performance by the New York Philharmonic in 2008.

The other show will be held at the Ryugyong Chung Ju-yung Gymnasium, a joint project between North and South Korea named after the Hyundai founder, Chung Ju-yung.

Officials will visit North Korea from 22 to 24 March to inspect the sites and ensure they can accommodate the singers, the ministry said.

The arrangement is the latest example of the detente that has been achieved this year, in which Pyongyang participated in the Winter Olympics and has since agreed to hold direct talks with the US.