Korean leader views S. Korean art performance in Pyongyang

A North Korean art troupe also travelled to the games and performed while there.

Ever since Kim Jong-Un expressed his willingness to develop better relations between North and South Korea – earlier this year – there have been several actions that seem to prove that he meant it.

The North Korean leader clapped and waved as South Korean bands took stage in Pyongyang for the first time in 10 years in a rare concert.

The South Korean singers will perform the famous North Korean song “See You Again” with the North’s Samjiyon Orchestra in the finale.

The show comes before the April 27 summit, where Moon Jae-in the South Korean president will meet with Kim in a border town. “There is a strong political motive to boost the mood ahead of the summit”. There was no further nuclear test after this.

US President George W. Bush had labeled the country a member of the “axis of evil” in 2002.

Kim has every incentive to hold onto his nuclear weapons, use them to cast doubts on the reliability of the US nuclear umbrella, and thereby drive wedges between the USA and its northeast Asian allies. First, the USA can be seen as willing to engage in dialogue with North Korea, which is important to reassure domestic and foreign audiences that every reasonable avenue is being given a chance – even if that chance is, at the moment, modest. The reclusive leader of the North enjoyed the entertainment provided by South Korean artists who visited his country.

The delegation, which incorporates K-pop, rock and also various other styles, is readied to carry out once more on Tuesday.

But it was the stars of Red Velvet, who sang their hits “Bad Boy” and “Red Flavour”, who caught his eye. He was also seen talking to members of Red Velvet, who have more than 4.6 million followers on Instagram.

Nevertheless, Kim reportedly told performers that “when such good atmosphere is preserved carefully and continuously, only the handsome spring when new buds sprout and flowers blossom and the rich autumn when the crops are abundant will always be in the way of our fellow countrymen”.

At the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, in February, the two Koreas marched under the same flag for the first time in decades and formed a united team in women’s hockey. But the audience froze when the athletes started performing Fire by K-pop group BTS. One of the band members, Eric Mun, told reporters that they looked at the singers “with eyes like shooting lasers”, according to Yonhap.

The North Korean audience clapped, cheered, sang along to some of the songs and later presented the South Korean performers with bouquets.

Full video of their and other South Korean singers’ performances wasn’t immediately available.

Bach is the first foreign official to meet Kim after his return from Beijing.

A soldier stands guard in front of the Unha-3 (Milky Way 3) rocket sitting on a launch pad at the West Sea Satellite Launch Site, during a guided media tour by North Korean authorities in the northwest of Pyongyang April 8, 2012. Aside from the North Korean leader, there were about 1,500 members of the North Korea’s ruling class seated in the East Pyongyang Grand Theater.