North Korea's most famous pop group, The Moranbong Band, might make a rare appearance on the world stage at the Winter Olympics in South Korea next month, according to reports.
Moranbong member Hyon Song Wol joined in the talks Monday between North and South Korean officials about potential appearances at the games in Pyeongchang. During the discussions, it was agreed that the 140-member Samjiyeon Orchestra would be sent to the Winter Olympics as part of North Korea's delegation. No mention of Moranbong was made, but Hyon's presence suggested the band might appear as well. She wasn't simply there as a guest, but as deputy chief delegate to the talks, the Seoul-based Yonhap News Agency reported.
The Moranbong Band, which has roughly 20 female members, was personally founded by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in 2012. "Kim Jong Un organized the Moranbong band as required by the new century, prompted by a grandiose plan to bring about a dramatic turn in the field of literature and arts this year in which a new century of Juche Korea begins," the state-run Korean Central News Agency said at the time. "Juche" is North Korea's governing ideology and essentially means "self-reliance." It was adopted in the 1950s as part of the ruling regime's efforts to reduce the Soviet Union's influence.
The Moranbong Band's lyrics praise the supreme leader. "How can he be so kind. I have no choice but to be taken by him and his warm heart," one song reportedly goes.
Every member of the Moranbong Band is a military officer, and the band often performs in full uniform. If the band performs in South Korea during the games and it continues this tradition, it could be yet another cause for tension between the two nations.
"If the Moranbong Band members, who are all formally military officers, come to the South in military uniforms, it could cause discomfort among many South Koreans," Cheong Seong-chang, an analyst at the Sejong Institute in Seoul, told The Guardian. "And it would stir an even bigger controversy if any praise of Kim Jong-un or missile launches are featured on the stage during their performance."
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During the Winter Olympics, North Korea's Samjiyeon Orchestra is set to perform once in Seoul, the South Korean capital, and once in Gangneung, a city on the east coast.
Pyongyang and Seoul resumed dialogue for the first time in roughly two years this month, which led the two parties to agree to have North Korea participate in the games. This came after the U.S. and South Korea agreed to hold off on any large-scale joint military exercises on or near the Korean Peninsula until after the Winter Olympics as to avoid provoking the North, which isolates itself from the rest of the world.
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