North and South Korean musicians perform together in China

A South Korean violinist and a North Korean singer on Sunday held a rare joint performance they hope will help bring the divided Koreas closer together via music – especially at a time of emerging tensions amid deadlocked nuclear diplomacy.

Violinist Won Hyung Joon and his North Korean soprano partner Kim Song Mi performed together at a Shanghai concert hall with a Chinese orchestra. Their concert came three days after North Korea fired two suspected short-range missiles in the second such weapons test in five days.

For both, it was their first concert with a musician from the other side of the Korean border, the world’s most heavily fortified. They met several times last year in Beijing and agreed on a joint performance to help promote peace on the Korean peninsula.

As a duet, Kim sang Antonin Dvorak’s Songs My Mother Taught Me while Won played the violin. Kim later sang Arirang, a Korean traditional folk tune beloved in both countries, while the Shanghai City Symphony Orchestra played the music.

“When I met her [Kim] for the first time, I felt like I was reuniting with an old friend who’s been on the same wavelength with me,” Won said before Sunday’s concert. “This performance shouldn’t be the end … and what’s important now is what other dreams we can have together.”