(2nd LD) Koreas hold talks on S. Korean art troupe's concert in Pyongyang

All News 14:48 March 20, 2018

(ATTN: RECASTS headline, lead; UPDATES with more info, photo throughout)

SEOUL, March 20 (Yonhap) -- South and North Korea held working-level talks Tuesday to discuss a South Korean art troupe's performance in Pyongyang in early April ahead of a planned inter-Korean summit.

The two Koreas adopted a joint statement following the talks at the border truce village of Panmunjom, and it will be released in a press briefing after the South's delegates come back home, according to Seoul's unification ministry.

South Korea agreed to send an art troupe and a taekwondo demonstration team to Pyongyang when South Korean special envoys met with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in early March. The concert comes ahead of an inter-Korean summit at the border village slated for late April.

The move reciprocates North Korea's dispatch of musicians and traditional Korean martial art demonstrators on the occasion of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics last month.

The two sides apparently discussed details, including a date for the performance and a transportation route.

Seoul is considering sending an advance team to check possible venues, a ministry official said.

The combined photo, provided by South Korea's broadcaster SBS on Aug. 23, 2005, shows South Korean pop singer Cho Yong-pil (L) holding a performance in Pyongyang. (Yonhap)

Yun Sang, a popular singer and composer named as the music director for Seoul's art troupe, is South Korea's chief delegate for Tuesday's talks.

"The talks are the first inter-Korean official consultation over the South's art troupe. I think that a list of music is likely to be mainly discussed during the meeting," Yun Sang told reporters before heading to the meeting.

Hyon Song-wol, head of the all-female Moranbong Band, represents the North's delegation. She crossed the inter-Korean border last month as the leader of a North Korean art troupe for performances in South Korea.

The Ministry of Unification said that Yun, 50, is deemed suitable as director of Seoul's art group, given his expertise in diverse musical genres and the short period of preparations for the concert.

It said that in selecting the head of the art troupe, the government highly valued a person who is well-versed in the musical tastes of different generations.

It marks the first time that an entertainer has represented the South's delegation to inter-Korean talks.

Seoul's culture ministry said that various musicians will participate in the concert, which will be centered on South Korean pop music.

In 1985, South Korean musicians held their first concert in Pyongyang as part of cultural exchanges. In the 2000s, various Korean pop singers, including Cho Yong-pil, regarded as a contemporary Korean pop legend, and idol groups, performed in the North's capital.