North Korean orchestra to perform in Seoul

SEOUL, South Korea -- North Korea will send a 140-member musical group called the Samjiyon orchestra to South Korea, Lee Woo-sung, the head of South Korea’s delegation, told reporters today.

The North’s “art troupe” will perform in Seoul and Gangneung, near the main site for next month's Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, according to Lee, who also oversees the culture and arts policy office at South Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

Meanwhile, if the two Koreas march together at the opening ceremony of the Olympics, they’d parade under a joint "unification flag,” according to The Associated Press.

Seoul said the two Koreas agreed in principle to field a joint women's ice hockey team and have relayed the news to the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the AP said. The two countries will meet with the IOC on Saturday in Switzerland.

The developments came during a second-round of rare, high-level talks between the Koreas. Last week, the two countries said North Korea agreed to send an Olympic delegation consisting of athletes, cheerleaders, artists, spectators and members of the North Korean media.

Both countries planned to continue to discuss performance venue and stage details for North Korea's orchestra, and the South will do its best to ensure the performers’ safety and convenience, Lee said.

According to Korean broadcaster KBS, Lee said the South needs additional information about the orchestra.

The North Korean musicians will perform widely known folk songs that citizens of both countries are comfortable with – songs that go well with the theme of unification, according to KBS. There was no discussion about a joint performance, KBS reported.

According to South Korean news agency Yonhap, the North asked if the performers could enter the South through the Panmunjom "Truce Village" in the joint security area of the Demilitarized Zone, the highly fortified border between the two Koreas. The South suggested they take the train, Yonhap reported.