Protesters find voice as North Korean ship docks for Olympics
A shipload of North Korean musicians, singers and dancers arrived in South Korea yesterday to scenes of protest as they prepare to perform at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.
The arrival of the Mangyongbong 92 cruise ship was met by hordes of reporters and cameramen, as well as a small but boisterous protest by a group of South Koreans who oppose the last-minute agreement allowing North Korea to join in the Games, which open on Friday.
Protesters waved South Korean flags and tore up drawings of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Music was blasted from loudspeakers, while protestors also burned a paper version of the North Korean flag. They appeared to number only a few dozen or so. The protesters were contained by hundreds of police as the cruise ship arrived in Donghae, about 75 miles east of Pyeongchang.
Some crew members were visible on the deck of the ship flying the North Korean flag as it prepared to dock in the South for the first time since 2002.
The ship carried members of the Samjiyon Band, an orchestra with vocalists and dancers that is headed by one of North Korea’s best-known singers, Hyon Song Wol.
The vessel will be used as lodging for the group, at least initially, before they move on to a performance in Seoul on Sunday. It is a convenient way for North Korean officials to keep closer control over the delegation and limit its exposure to South Korean “ideological contamination”.
The North’s final delegation is expected to number in the hundreds, including about 22 athletes, various officials, 140 people in the Samjiyon Band, a taekwondo exhibition team and an all-female cheering group that typically draws lots of attention from Japanese and South Korean television networks.
Seoul had to waive sanctions in place since 2010 on North Korea over the sinking of a South Korean naval vessel to allow the ship to enter this time. The attack on the South Korean ship left 46 dead.
North Korea has sent large delegations to international sports events in South Korea during previous periods of inter-korean detente and no defections were reported. Any attempt to do so would be extremely risky.
About 1,200 people working security at the Pyeongchang Olympics are meanwhile being kept in their rooms while they are tested for norovirus. The Olympic organising committee said Monday that officials started investigating a norovirus outbreak after 41 security guards suffered diarrhoea and vomiting.