Anger as two Koreas draw closer
• Protesters burn North Korean flag as leaders of estranged nations watch Olympics music show together and talk of unity
South Korean President Moon Jae-in sat next to the powerful sister of the North’s leader Kim Jong-un at a concert in Seoul by musicians from Pyongyang on Sunday, as conservative protesters burnt the North’s national flag outside.
The show was the final setpiece element of the North Korean delegation’s landmark visit, the diplomatic highlight of the Olympics-driven rapprochement between the two halves of the peninsula.
They have shared kimchi and soju, sat in the same box at the Olympics opening ceremony and cheered a unified women’s ice hockey team. Kim invited Moon to a summit in the North on Saturday, an offer extended by his sister and special envoy, Kim Yo-jong, who made history as the first member of the North’s ruling dynasty to visit the South since the Korean War.
Pictures showed Kim Yojong seated between Moon and the North’s ceremonial head of state, Kim Yong-nam, who is leading the North’s delegation, and applauding at the concert.
The show was given by about 140 members of Pyongyang’s Samjiyon Orchestra as part of a cross-border deal in which the isolated nucleararmed North sent hundreds of athletes, cheerleaders and others to the Pyeongchang Winter Games in the South. At a dinner beforehand with senior Seoul officials, Kim Yo-jong said she found the two Koreas still had much in common despite decades of separation.
Before flying south, she said, she had expected “things would be very different and unfamiliar”, according to a statement from Moon’s office. “But it turned out that there were many things similar and in common. I hope that the day we become one will be brought forward.”
But the rapprochement pushed by Moon has angered conservatives, who accuse him of being a North Korea sympathiser and undermining the security alliance with the US. “Having these red communists in the heart of Seoul is an utter humiliation!” one shouted near the venue as dozens of others waved banners condemning Moon and Kim Jong-un. “We are against the ugly political Olympics!” read one banner. Some set a North Korean flag on fire before police intervened, and others chanted “Let’s tear Kim Jong-un to death!” as they ripped up posters bearing the leader’s portrait.
Sunday’s concert — the orchestra’s second and final show — was expected to feature South Korean pop songs as well as North Korean music, with the diplomatic delegation due to fly home afterwards.
Interest in the show was huge, with nearly 120,000 people applying for 1,000 tickets.
Civilian contact is banned between the two Koreas, which have been divided by the heavily fortified Demilitarised Zone since the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice instead of a peace treaty.
Tension soared in 2017 as the North staged a series of nuclear and missile tests in violation of UN resolutions, while leader Kim and US President Donald Trump traded colourful insults and threats of war.
THEY HAVE SHARED KIMCHI AND SOJU AND SAT IN THE SAME BOX AT THE OLYMPICS OPENING CEREMONY
Moon has long sought engagement with the North to bring it to the negotiating table, and for months has promoted Pyeongchang as a “peace Olympics”. But controversy over the North’s participation — particularly the formation of a unified women’s ice hockey team, seen as unfairly denying Seoul’s own citizens a chance to compete on the Olympic stage — has hit his approval ratings.
Many older South Koreans harbour a nostalgic longing for some form of reunification — conservatives through the North’s collapse and liberals through an amicable deal.
A 2017 poll found almost 50% of over-60s believed the two Koreas can be reunified, while just 20.5% of those in their 20s agreed.