Head of popular girl band leads NoKor team to Seoul
SEOUL (AP) — The head of a hugely popular North Korean girl band crossed the heavily fortified border into South Korea yesterday to check preparations for rare performances by an art troupe she also leads during next month’s Winter Olympics.
Appearing live on South Korean television, Hyon Song-wol didn’t speak when she walked past a crowd of reporters, onlookers and a barrage of camera flashes before boarding an express train at Seoul’s railway station for the eastern city of Gangneung, where her art troupe is to perform during the Pyeongchang Olympics.
She is the leader of Pyongyang’s all-female Moranbong Band, which was hand-picked by leader Kim Jong-un.
She’s been the subject of intense South Korean media attention since she attended last week’s talks at the border that struck an agreement on the 140-memer Samjiyon art troupe’s two performances — one in Seoul and the other in Gangneung, where some of the games will take place.
After the talks, North Korea said Hyon would also lead the Samjiyon art troupe, whose performances would be the first by a North Korean group in South Korea since 2002.
With no official media access given to Hyon, TV stations broadcast live footage of her bus moving on Seoul’s roads before arriving at the railway station, where hundreds of police officers were mobilized to maintain order.