South and North Korea have agreed that Pyongyang will send a 140-strong orchestra to perform at next month's Winter Olympics. The agreement has come as the two sides continue to hold rare working-level talks.
Image: Reuters/Yonhap
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North Korea agreed during rare talks with its southern neighbor on Monday to send a 140-strong orchestra to perform during next month's Winter Olympics in South Korea.
The two concerts are set to take place in the South Korean capital of Seoul and at Gangneung, near Pyeongchang where most of the Olympic events are being held. It will mark the first time the North has sent its national orchestra to the South since 2002.
The agreement is the latest indication of a tentative rapprochement following a months-long standoff over North Korea's nuclear weapons program, as the two sides continue to hold talks in the border truce village of Panmunjom. Pyongyang agreed last week to send athletes and high-ranking officials to the Winter Games, set for February 9-25.
South Korea's Unification Ministry said that the decision to host the orchestra "contributes to improving relations and recovering the cultural homogeneity" between the two Koreas.
A further statement released by the two sides stated that the North intends to dispatch a preliminary investigation team "at the earliest possible time" to fix up outstanding logistical issues, such as the venue, stage conditions and the installation of equipment.
"The South will ensure the safety and convenience of the North's performing squad to the utmost extent," a joint statement continued, without elaborating on the concert dates.
The governor of the Games' host province, Choi Moon-soon, also alluded to the chance that the two countries' orchestras may hold a joint concert.
The North also intends to have its musicians cross the border on foot via Panmunjom, the area within the demilitarized zone where a North Korean soldier defected to the South back in November.
North Korea's orchestra, known as the Samjiyon Band, is one of the reclusive state's two main art troupes. During last year's New Year celebrations in Pyongyang, the ensemble played in front of a large screen displaying footage of the regime's long-range ballistic missile launches and what it claimed to be its first hydrogen bomb test.
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While art in the North is often politically-charged, the two sides nevertheless agreed that the orchestra should play traditional folk songs and classical masterpieces that, according to the South's negotiator Lee Woo-sung, would "fit the mood for unification and are well known to both sides."
Also involved in Monday's talks was Hyon Song-Wol, the leader of Pyongyang's famed all-female Moranbong music band hand-picked by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Her presence raised expectations that the band would also receive a slot at next month's Games. Monday's statement made no mention of it, however.
South Korea on Monday also proposed forming a joint hockey team with its northern neighbor to compete in the women's bracket. The move still requires approval from the International Olympic Committee (IOC), but if it realized would mark Korea's first ever unified Olympic team.
The two Koreas also agreed to take part in separate talks on Wednesday on logistics surrounding the North's athletes' visit south.
A second round of talks, this time hosted by the IOC at its headquarters in Switzerland, is also set for Saturday, where the parties will discuss the number of North Korean athletes slated to compete.
The 2018 Winter Olympic Games in the South Korean town of Pyeongchang are just weeks away. Here's a look at some of the more intriguing numbers associated with the Winter Games.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/YNA
5 rings every 4 years
The 23rd Winter Olympics are to be held in the South Korean town of Pyeongchang. The first Winter Games were organized by the French Olympic Committee and hosted by the town of Chamonix. Originally billed as the Semaine Internationale des Sports d'Hiver (international week of winter sports), they were later designated by the International Olympic Committee as the first Winter Olympics.
Image: Reuters/Kim Hong-Ji
80 kilometers from the DMZ
Pyeongchang is located in the Taebaek Mountains,130 kilometers (80 miles) east of Seoul. It is also just 80 kilometers from the DMZ, South Korea's border with North Korea. The North has raised tensions with a series of ballistic missile and nuclear weapons tests in recent months. In January, though, Pyongyang sought to reduce tensions, even offering to send a delegation to Pyeongchang.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/B. Makarewicz
7 gold medals
Five-time Olympic gold medalist Claudia Pechstein is Germany's most successful winter Olympian, with a total of nine career medals. Not only will she be appearing at her seventh Olympics in February, but in Pyeongchang, she is set to celebrate her 46th birthday as well.
Image: Getty Images
3000 athletes
Almost 3,000 athletes will compete for the medals at Pyeongchang, but a Russian team won't be among them – at least not officially. Following a ban on Russian athletes imposed by the International Olympic Committee over allegations of state-sponsored doping, Russians deemed to be clean are to compete under the designation "Olympic Athlete from Russia."
Image: picture alliance/dpa/Keystone/J.C. Bott
15 disciplines
The winter athletes are to compete in 15 disciplines, including the biathlon, bobsleigh, downhill skiing and speed skating. There are no new sports this time around, but there are some less traditional ones that promise to provide much excitement, including the Big Air in snowboarding or short-track speed skating.
Image: picture-alliance/Expa/Jfk/APA
78 World Cup wins
Lindsey Vonn is one of the best-known figures in winter sports. The American downhill skier is the most successful women on the World Cup circuit, having won 78 races. However, her many injuries combined with the fact that she is now 33 mean that she will not be among the medal favorites in Pyeongchang.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/F. Coffrini
377 medals for Germany
Germany has a history of success at the Winter Games, and if you add up all of the medals that German athletes have won, you come up with a total of 377, including 136 gold medals. That's more than even the Russians, who have captured a total of 328 medals (132 gold).
Image: Reuters/Kim Hong-Ji
50% of the tickets
Sales of the more than one million tickets for various Olympic events haven't been going as well as organizers had probably hoped, but by mid-December almost half of them had been snapped up. Lee Jie-Hye told the AFP news agency at the time that about half of all Olympic tickets are usually sold in the last two months, so "we don't expect any problems with meeting the target."
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/yonhap
13 medals and counting
Norwegian biathlete Ole Einar Bjorndalen is the most successful athlete in the history of the Winter Games. The Norwegian has won eight golds, four silvers and a bronze medal in the five Winter Games that he has competed in so far. It's not yet clear whether the 43-year-old will be part of the Norwegian team in Pyeongchang.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
35,000 seats
The Olympic stadium built for the Pyeongchang Games has a capacity of 35,000. It is to host the opening and closing ceremonies for both the Olympics and the Paralympic Winter Games, which are to be held in March.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/A. Young-Joon
More than 40,000 residents
The motto of Pyeongchang county, which is home to 43,706 residents is "Happy" – which stands for: Health, Amusement, Peace, Party, and Young. Almost 10,000 of the county's residents live in the town of Pyeongchang.
Image: picture-alliance/Kyodo/MAXPPP
7500 torch-relay runners
The Olympic Flame is to crisscross its way throughout all of South Korea's key towns and regions before arriving in Pyeongchang in time for the 2018 Winter Olympics. Some 7,500 runners are to take part in the Olympic torch relay through the country.
