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Kim Jong Un mingles with K-Pop stars in overture to South Korea
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This April 1, 2018 picture released from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on April 2, 2018 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un (right) speaking to South Korean musicians after a rare concert by South Korean musicians at the 1,500-seat East Pyongyang Grand Theatre in Pyongyang. (Agence France -Presse/KCNA via KNS)
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orth Korea has threatened to go to war over broadcasts across its militarized border that included the K-Pop songs of South Korean bands like Red Velvet. On Sunday, Kim Jong Un was clapping along and posing for pictures with the music group.
Kim’s surprise appearance at a rare pop concert in Pyongyang was the North Korean leader’s latest diplomatic overture as he prepares for an unprecedented potential meeting with US President Donald Trump next month. Kim first plans to hold a rare summit with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who has pursued reconciliation with North Korea to avert war over the regime’s nuclear weapons program.
After listening to the band belt out dance tunes including “Red Flavor” and “Bad Boy” to about 1,500 members of the North Korean elite at the East Pyongyang Grand Theater, Kim called for a similar performance in Seoul later this year. “I understand people were curious to see if I would come to see Red Velvet’s performance,” Kim said, calling the show a “present” to North Korea’s citizens.
Kim Jong Un and wife Ri Sol Ju make a surprise appearance at the "Spring is Coming" K-pop concert in Pyongyang on Sunday. Kim hailed the concert as "significant". Watch the full video here: https://t.co/2jNo68DZFs pic.twitter.com/GfyoosWoeh
— NK NEWS (@nknewsorg) April 2, 2018
After a similar attempt at K-Pop diplomacy received a frosty reception 15 years ago, Red Velvet’s members expressed surprise at the welcome they received from the North Korean spectators, who waved their hands and sang along to the songs. South Korea has in recent years added K-Pop to its propaganda broadcasts across the demilitarized zone, a practice that has prompted threats of military action by North Korea.
Kim’s appearance comes a week after he shook up the Asian diplomatic landscape with an unexpected trip to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing -- his first overseas trip since taking power in 2011. His planned inter-Korean summit with Moon on April 27 is expected to pave the way for a similar meeting with Trump, who wants Kim to abandon his nuclear weapons.
“The whole purpose of cultural exchange is to open the gates for better relations between the North and the South, which have been strained for a decade,” said Kang Dong-wan, a professor at Dong-a University and a leader of the Busan Hana Center, an institute that helps North Korean defectors in the South Korean port city of Busan. “There is a strong political motive to boost the mood ahead of the summit.”
Kim met with Red Velvet and other South Korean performers after the show, shaking hands with them and expressing his “deep thanks,” according to the official Korean Central News Agency. Kim said he was “deeply moved to see our people sincerely acclaiming the performance, deepening the understanding of the popular art of the south side,” KCNA reported.
