Pyongyang sending art troupe to Olympics

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea agreed with the Republic of Korea on Monday to send a 140-member orchestra to the ROK-hosted Winter Olympics, Seoul's Unification Ministry said.

The agreement came after delegates from the countries held working-level talks at Tongilgak, a DPRK building in the truce village of Panmunjom which straddles the heavily guarded inter-Korean land border.

The DPRK will send the art troupe during the 2018 Winter Olympics and Paralympic Games set to run from February to March in the ROK's eastern county of Pyeongchang.

During the Olympic period, the DPRK art troupe will hold concerts in Seoul and Gangneung near Pyeongchang.

The orchestra will cross the inter-Korean land border through Panmunjom to get to the ROK, according to the Unification Ministry.

Seoul agreed to provide the performance venue and necessary facilities, while Pyongyang agreed to send its advance team for the performance as soon as possible.

Li Chengri, expert from National Institute of International Strategy at Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, had predicted that the famed all-female Moranbong band from the DPRK would go to the Games, especially as Hyon Song-wol, head of the band, participated in the talks.

"The bilateral meeting is based on the possibility of DPRK's going to the Games. Both sides have the desire to improve their relationship. So even when there may be some small disagreements, the art troupe will make its way to Pyeongchang," he said.

During Monday's talks in Panmunjom, the two sides discussed when and where the DPRK's art troupe would perform in the ROK and under what specific stage conditions, Seoul's Unification Ministry said in a statement.

"The performance may focus on showing the peninsula's culture and traditions, and may not involve sensitive elements such as the artists wearing military uniforms, since the DPRK wants to improve its diplomatic image and enhance its soft power by sending the art troupe," Li said.

DPRK last week agreed to send an Olympic delegation and hold military talks aimed at reducing frontline animosities in its first formal talks with the ROK in about two years. Pyongyang has said its delegation to the Winter Games would include an art troupe along with officials, athletes, cheerleaders, journalists and a taekwondo demonstration team.

The two sides are also set to hold talks with the International Olympic Committee in Lausanne, Switzerland, on Saturday over the number of DPRK athletes, including the formation of a unified women's ice hockey team.

Xinhua, AP contributed to this story.