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Members of the North Korean cheerleading group wave to South Korean citizens during their stop at a rest area in Gapyeong

“I would like to see us reunified as soon as possible. We’re all Korean. . . .”

This was the North Korean cheerleading squad member’s response to reporters’ questions on whether she had enjoyed herself during her visit to South Korea. It was around midday on Feb. 26, and the woman, dressed in a red coat with a North Korean flag pinned to the left side of her chest, was waiting alongside North Korean athletes and journalists for border-crossing procedures at the Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) building at Dorasan in Paju, Gyeonggi Province.

“It’s a great thing that we were able to become one as we cheered together during the unified [women’s ice hockey] team’s matches. I’m so happy,” she said of her experience over the past 20 days.

Around noon on Feb. 26, 299 North Korean athletes and cheerleading squad members wrapped up their 20-day stay in South Korea and returned home from the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. Comprising four North Korean National Olympic Committee officials, 45 athletes, 229 cheerleaders, and 21 reporters, they left the Dorasan CIQ building at 12:33 pm and crossed the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) five minutes later. South and North Korean officials said their final goodbyes at the CIQ building, trading message of “good job” and “see you again someday.”

The North Korean cheerleading squad gives a public musical performance at the Inje Multipurpose Stadium on Feb. 23. (Hankyoreh Archive)

“I don’t feel like the Olympics are over,” a cheerleading squad members said with a smile. “I feel like the desire for unification between North and South will reach its peak thanks to the Olympics, and the day of our homeland’s reunification will be that much closer.”

The North Korean cheerleading squad, which arrived on Feb. 7, was the first in the 13 years since the 2005 Asian Athletics Championship in Incheon. The squad drew attention by taking part in major Olympic activities between the opening and closing ceremonies. Their first display of cheerleading came at the opening ceremony on Feb. 9, where they sang “Arirang” and other numbers amid a wind chill temperature of ten degrees below zero.

The North Korean cheerleading squad gives a public musical performance at the Inje Multipurpose Stadium on Feb. 23. (Hankyoreh Archive)

As the South and North Korean athletes entered the opening ceremony together – the first joint entrance at any international event in 11 years – the cheerleaders waved a Korean Peninsula flag and chanted, “We are one.” Members went to visit and cheer on all of the 22 North Korean athletes competing in five total events, including ice hockey and Alpine skiing. They also rooted for South Korean athletes, including the men’s ice hockey team on Feb. 15 and the short-track speed skaters on Feb. 22.

Seven unscheduled musical performances by the North Korean cheerleaders also helped bring members of the public together. The squad staged a total of five outdoor performances, starting with one on Feb. 8 for the North Korean team’s flag-raising ceremony at the athletes’ village and including additional ones on Feb. 20 at Pyeongchang Olympic Plaza and Feb. 22 at Jeongdongjin in Gangneung.

The North Korean cheerleading squad gives a public musical performance at the Inje Multipurpose Stadium on Feb. 23. (Hankyoreh Archive)

On Feb. 23 and 24, they put on pre-departure indoor performances for thousands of audience members at Inje Multipurpose Stadium and Wonju Gymnasium. A wind instrument orchestra of around 80 members performed numbers familiar to South Korean audiences, including “Bangapseumnida (Pleased to Meet You),” “Kwaejina Chinchingnane (Let’s Sing and Dance Together),” and “Arirang,” while the other cheerleading squad members performed fan dances and other lively dance routines around the musicians.

While most of the outdoor performances were previously unannounced “surprise” shows, they attracted major interest, with hundreds of South Koreans turning out at each of the venues. For one wind orchestra performance at the Sangji Daegwallyeong High School gymnasium in Pyeongchang during the Lunar New Year holiday on Feb. 17, audience members at Pyeongchang Olympic Park arrived an hour beforehand and stood in a line stretching for around 100 meters to see the show.

Over the course of their many outdoor performances, the North Korean squad responded ahead of time to the audience members’ cheers. When the audience began singing “Our Wish Is Unification” following the Feb. 22 performance at Jeongdongjin, the members stood and sang along at the venue. Other times, they chanted messages of “Unify the homeland!” and “We are one!” toward the audience members.

After drawing so much attention from the public during their South Korean stay, members of the cheerleading squad plan to continue their cheerleading at the upcoming Winter Paralympics. On Feb. 27, the South and North Korean sides are scheduled to hold working-level talks at the Tongilgak building on the North Korean side of Panmunjeom to discuss the North’s participation in the Paralympics, which begin on Mar. 9. At high-level working-talks on Jan. 17, the two sides previously agreed on the sending of 150-member North Korean delegation to the Paralympics, including representatives, athletes, and cheerleading squad members.

By Hwang Keum-bi, staff reporter

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