Nth Korean cheerleaders make surprise appearance
The first Olympic game in the history of South Korean men’s ice hockey got an unexpected visitor yesterday: North Korea’s cheerleading troupe.
The cheerleaders have attended the unified Korean women’s games so far, with that team having players from both North Korea and South Korea.
But the South Korean men’s team has no North Korean players; it has 18 South Koreans and seven North Americans – one from the United States and six from Canada – who are dual citizens.
The Korean women’s games have been popular all week, even though they have lost each game.
The men’s opener against the Czech Republic was raucous as well, with a big crowd as well as the cheerleaders.
Around Gangneung Hockey Centre, South Korean fans carried flags and wore jerseys of the national team and some clubs in the Asian League. Some stopped what they were doing to take selfies or pictures of about 200 North Korean cheerleaders, who marched in wearing red jackets and surrounded by security, and sat in the section behind the net where the Czechs defended.
As they did at figure skating and women’s hockey, the cheerleaders – this time dressed in blue and white tops and red pants – waved flags showing the Korean Peninsula and danced, swayed, sang and chanted in unison. As loud as they were, they couldn’t be heard across the arena over the blare of a Korean rapper performing live.
At times, South Korean fans joined in on cheers, including one that translated to ‘‘win.’’ At other times, competing chants were heard in the arena.
The cheerleaders were joined in the stands by four dancers in traditional costumes with veils, with a few more in different traditional dress. Around the group was a significant security presence, including people with accreditations reading, ‘‘National Counter Terrorism Centre.’’
With the nation’s most accomplished hockey player standing behind the bench as coach and curator of the moment, South Korea celebrated its first Olympic men’s ice hockey game in front of a flag-waving crowd cheering nearly every moment.
Hosting the Olympics was step one of a long process of getting Korean hockey up to par to even play at this tournament, which was the job of two-time Stanley Cup-winner Jim Paek.
The Seoul-born Paek, who moved to Canada when he was 1, expected to be filled with every possible emotion at reaching this stage. The opener against the Czech Republic was highly anticipated by the host nation and the cheers continued until the final moments of what ended as a 2-1 loss.
‘‘It’s incredible how far Korean hockey has come, how they’ve opened their minds to this wonderful sport is fantastic and to be a part of this is incredible,’’ Paek said this week. ‘‘It’s a dream.’’
Fans filled 10,000-seat Gangneung Hockey Centre almost to capacity to witness history, and they cheered even when Korean players were simply carrying the puck up ice. They roared at shots on goal and went wild when homegrown veteran Minho Cho notched another milestone by scoring South Korea’s first Olympic men’s ice hockey goal just over seven minutes in.
The goal came right in front of North Korea’s cheerleaders.