SEOUL, South Korea (CelebrityAccess) — One of South Korea’s leading cultural exports, K-Pop will play a central role in international relations next month as South Korean girl group Red Velvet joins a 160-member artistic delegation to perform in North Korea at the end of the month.
According to ABC News, the cultural delegation will serve as a prelude to a planned summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in, amid apparently relaxing tensions on the East Asian peninsula.
“Our goal is to impress North Koreans in the same way as South Koreans are moved by their musicians,” Yoon Sang, South Korea’s chief delegate to the event, told ABC News.
The confirmed list of performers includes the five-member Red Velvet group, who will be joined by Seohyun, a singer who was formerly a member of another K-Pop group Girls’ Generation, as well as Korean pop singer Cho Yong-pil. Other South Korean performers planned for the delegation include ‘Big Sister’ Choi Jin-hee; ballad singer Lee Sun-hee; rock/folk musician Yoon Do-hyun; K-pop/dance singers Baek Ji-young, Jungin, and Ali.
Red Velvet is slated to perform two shows – one at the 1,500-seat East Pyongyang Grand Theater and a second at the 12,000-seat Ryugyong Jong Ju Yong Gymnasium and the South Korean delegation is reportedly sending an advanced team to check the venues this week.
