South Korea's K-pop heavyweights set to perform in North

  01 April 2018    Read: 2008
South Korea

South Korea's K-pop stars are due to perform in North Korea for the first time in more than a decade as the two countries on the divided peninsula prepare for a rare summit.

More than 150 artists are in the capital Pyongyang for two shows.

It is a reciprocal visit after the North sent performers to the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics earlier this year in South Korea.

It comes amid thawing relations between the Koreas after months of tension.

One concert takes place on Sunday, with another set to follow on Tuesday. The delegation mixes K-pop, rock and other genres.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has agreed to hold summits with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and US President Donald Trump.

He met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing last week during his first overseas trip.

The third inter-Korean summit - there were also meetings in 2000 and 2007 - is due to be held on 27 April. No date has been set for the US-North Korean summit.

Meanwhile, the US and South Korea have begun their annual military drills, which have been scaled down compared with previous years as both countries prepare for talks with North Korea.

In the past, the drills have infuriated North Korea but correspondents say that this time Pyongyang is keeping relatively quiet. Mr Kim reportedly told visiting South Korean officials that he understood that the exercises had to go ahead.

 

BBC


More about: NorthKorea  


News Line