hankyoreh

Hyun Song-wol

On Mar. 21, the advance inspection team for the South Korean group of musicians who will be performing in Pyongyang left South Korea en route to their stopover point of Beijing. They are planning to arrive in North Korea on Mar. 22 and stay for three days.

“A small number of concert staff and officials will be visiting North Korea via Beijing. While staying in Pyongyang from Mar. 22 to 24, the advance inspection team will be mostly checking on technical matters, including the stages, lighting and sound at the concert venues,” Unification Ministry Spokesperson Baik Tae-hyun said during the daily press briefing on the morning of Mar. 2.

Also noteworthy is the fact that Tak Hyeon-min, senior administrator in the Blue House’s protocol office, is one of the members of the advance inspection team. Tak, a former concert planner, appears to be in charge of logistics for the concert in Pyongyang. He was also part of the support staff for a working-level inter-Korean meeting about the concert that was held at Panmunjeom the day before.

North Korea previously sent a large-scale performance group headed by Samjiyon Orchestra director Hyon Song-wol for performances in Gangneung and Seoul to celebrate the opening of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. The South Korean musicians’ performances in Pyongyang are seen as a return visit in response.

The Koryo Hotel in Pyongyang has reportedly been chosen as the accommodation for the South Korean musicians, who are scheduled to give two performances in the city while visiting North Korea from Mar. 31 to Apr. 3. On the question of whether North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will be attending, Baik said, “Nothing has been specifically discussed.”

By Jung In-hwan, staff reporter

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]