K-pop stars Red Velvet headline group travelling north for performance in Pyongyang as ties continue to thaw on Korean peninsula
The two neighbours have a date for next month’s inter-Korean summit – the third ever of its kind following 2000 and 2007 meetings – at Panmunjom truce village
K-pop stars led a group of South Korean musicians departing for Pyongyang on Saturday to take part in the latest set of cross-border cultural performances ahead of next month’s rare inter-Korean summit.
The 120-member group including top girl band Red Velvet flew from Seoul’s Gimpo airport aboard a chartered civilian flight to Pyongyang via the rarely used direct air route between the two Koreas, as a rapprochement on the peninsula gathers pace.
“This performance in Pyongyang will add momentum to inter-Korean exchanges and cooperation that resumed with the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics [in the South],” said Culture Minister Do Jong-hwan, who led the group.
Under the theme title “Spring is Coming”, South Korean musicians will perform a concert in Pyongyang on Sunday before a joint show with North Korean artists at the capital’s 12,000-seat Ryugyong Jong Ju Yong Gymnasium on Tuesday.
While in Pyongyang, Do said, he will meet with North Korean officials to discuss further cultural and sports exchanges between the two Koreas that have restarted after a decade-long hiatus.