‘Pyongyang Olympics’: how North Korea stole the Winter Games
Beware of pop stars bearing gifts: the arrival in Seoul of North Korean singer Hyon Song-wol is likely to be the first of many soft power salvoes aimed at stealing the South’s limelight
The procession through Seoul this week of the North Korean pop singer Hyon Song-wol, best known for her song Excellent Horse-like Lady, has inspired hopes for peace thanks to North Korea’s participation in the upcoming Pyeongchang Winter Olympics – but for others, her visit conjured images of the Trojan Horse.
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Arriving in a plush grey fur flanked by a delegation of severe-looking men in dark suits, Hyon visited the South for two days to inspect the venue where North Korea’s Samjiyon Orchestra will perform next month.
Her visit was just as much a soft power salvo as a logistical necessity, and South Korea media was quick to take the bait, fawning over her attire, the food she ate, the fact that she didn’t smile or the moment when she did. As a result, The Korea Times ran the headline “N. Korean band leader steals limelight”, and in a story with the heading “South Korea went gaga over a North Korean singer,” The Washington Post described her visit as “a propaganda coup for North Korea”.
WATCH: North Korean Olympics delegation arrives in Seoul
The lead singer of Moranbong Band has been the subject of many rumours. At one point she was thought to have been executed by machine gun for producing a pornographic film, and it had also been speculated that she formerly dated the regime’s supreme leader, Kim Jong-un.
Not only is this N-pop star’s natural beauty and spartan taste a stark contrast to the artificial looks of infantilised K-pop idols (almost as if designed to highlight the superficial extravagances of life in the South), it’s also a reminder that the South’s narrative about the North is often wrong and that widely reported stories of her execution were merely fake news.
But not everyone took her visit as a harbinger of peace, and when Hyon returned to Seoul on Monday after completing her inspection, she was met by protesters outside the railway station who set fire to images of Kim Jong-un as well as the North Korean flag and the Korea Unification flag.
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Members of conservative groups burn an image of Kim Jong-un during a rally in Seoul against North Korea's participation in the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. Photo: EPA
Like the Greeks who slipped out of the Trojan Horse and opened the gates of Troy to let in their countrymen, Hyon and her delegation are just the beginning. The 140-member orchestra for which she is preparing will perform on the opening day of the Olympics on February 8, as well as on February 11. The North will also send a coterie of reporters and government officials to the Games, as well as a 30-member taekwondo demonstration team and 230 cheerleaders, the so-called “army of beauties”, to cheer for North Korean athletes.
