N. Korean art troupe going to Olympics
Sides discussing unified women’s hockey team
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea’s delegation to the Winter Olympics in South Korea will include a 140-member art troupe, the two sides agreed Monday, while discussions continue over fielding a joint women’s hockey team.
The two Koreas met Monday for the second time in a week as they try to hammer out details for the North’s participation in next month’s games, which the South sees as a way to calm tensions caused by Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile tests.
North Korea said the art troupe will comprise 80 orchestra members and 60 members who sing and dance. The North Koreans will perform in Seoul and in the city of Gangneung, where some Olympic competitions will be held, according to South Korean delegates who attended the meeting.
Separately, South Korean Sports Ministry spokesman Hwang Seong Un said the two Koreas have agreed in principle to field a joint women’s ice hockey team. The proposal requires International Olympic Committee approval. It would be the Koreas’ first unified Olympic team ever.
Officials from both Koreas are to meet with the International Olympic Committee at its headquarters in Switzerland on Saturday. The two sides agreed Monday to meet again at their border on Wednesday for working-level talks ahead of the IOC meeting.
North Korea last week agreed to send an Olympic delegation and hold military talks aimed at reducing frontline animosities in its first formal talks with South Korea in about two years.
North Korea has insisted its talks with South Korea won’t deal with its nuclear and missile programs, saying those weapons primarily target the United States. Critics question how long the warmer mood can last without any serious discussion on the North’s nuclear disarmament.
The art troupe being sent South is to play folk songs and other classic masterpieces that are well-known to both Koreas and can go with the theme of unification, chief South Korean delegate Lee Woo-sung said. He said more discussions are expected to work out details of North Korean performances.
The art troupe would be larger than the previous six that North Korea has sent to South Korea since 1985. The North last sent such a group in 2002, according to Seoul’s Unification Ministry.
A joint statement after Monday’s meeting didn’t mention North Korea’s well-known Moranbong Band, an all-female ensemble hand-picked by the North’s leader Kim Jong Un.
One of the North Korean delegates to the talks was Hyon Song Wol, the head of the band, fueling speculation that North Korea might send the band.