hankyoreh

North Korean taekwondo team members perform a demonstration of their skills at the CBS Studio Center in Los Angeles, CA, on October 6. In addition to the LA performance, the 18-member martial arts team, led by Bae Neung-man, vice chairman of the Chosun Taekwondo Committee, is scheduled to make its first “U.S. Goodwill Tour” to San Francisco, CA; Cedar Rapids, IA; Louisville, KY and Atlanta, GA, through October 20.

The taekwondo demonstration is widely considered to have been initiated with the encouragement of the U.S. State Department in order to promote cultural exchange and mutual understanding between the United States and North Korea, which have not had diplomatic relations since the Korean War ended in 1953.

To further promote cultural exchange between the two countries, the New York Philharmonic is also likely to perform in Pyongyang, North Korea’s capital, sometime this year.

Photo by AP/Yonhap News, Los Angeles.