Kim ‘moved’ by peace concert

Seoul : North Korean leader Kim Jong Un smiled, clapped and said he was “deeply moved” by a rare performance by South Korean K-pop stars in Pyongyang, state media reported yesterday.

The high profile appearance of Kim and his wife, former singer Ri Sol Ju, at the concert was unusual as his authoritarian regime typically struggles to prevent any infiltration of the South’s pop culture among his isolated people.

Kim, the first North Korean leader ever to attend a show by entertainers from the South, shook hands with the performers and “expressed his deep thanks to them,” the North’s official KCNA news agency reported.

“He said that he was deeply moved to see our people sincerely acclaiming the performance, deepening the understanding of the popular art of the South’s side,” KCNA said.

The visit by the South’s entertainers, seen as part of a cultural charm offensive by Seoul, comes as a diplomatic thaw gathers pace on the peninsula ahead of a landmark inter-Korean summit later this month.

Kim said he was likely to be busy “because of his complicated political program early in April,” so he was glad to make it to the concert which he credited with bringing the “spring of peace”.

The 120-member South Korean group -- 11 musical acts as well as dancers, technicians and martial artists -- gave one concert on Sunday with another set for
Tuesday.

Kim and his wife were seen clapping their hands during the two-hour Sunday event, which was also attended by Kim’s younger sister, Kim Yo Jong, and the North’s ceremonial head of state Kim Yong Nam.

The concert at the elaborately decorated 1,500-seat East Pyongyang Grand Theatre ended with a standing ovation by the packed audience after a finale featuring all the stars singing a song about unification.