Tag: Hyon Song-wol

Delegation Returns to North Korea After Visiting Concert Sites in Seoul

It looks like Seoul will likely be hosting the Moranbong Band next month according to the article:

Surrounded by South Korean officials and guards, Hyon Song-wol enters Jangchung Arena in central Seoul on the second day of her delegation’s two-day stay in South Korea on Jan. 22, 2018. (Yonhap)

A North Korean delegation led by the powerful female head of a national orchestra returned home late Monday after touring concert halls in Seoul to inspect candidate venues for planned art performances during next month’s PyeongChang Winter Olympics.

Wrapping up a two-day stay, the North Korean inspection team led by Hyon Song-wol, the head of the Samjiyon Orchestra, passed through the customs, immigration and quarantine (CIQ) office at Dorasan Station, just south of the border, at around 9:53 p.m. Their last engagement in Seoul was to have dinner at a hotel.

Hyon didn’t say anything in response to reporters asking for comments when she and the other North Korean officials left for the North.

Earlier in the day, a nonscheduled train took the seven-member team to Seoul from Gangneung, where they visited two candidate auditoriums on Sunday. Gangneung is a sub-host city of the games, 260 kilometers east of the capital.

In Seoul, the team inspected three facilities — the National Theater of Korea, Jangchung Arena and Jamsil Students’ Gymnasium — on a mission to locate venues for North Korean art performances celebrating the upcoming Olympics.

Touring the national theater as the final leg of the concert hall visit in Seoul, Hyon checked speakers and stage lights. She asked the operation staff to play orchestral music, and the theater officials played “Arirang,” a traditional Korean song, to test the audio systems.

The delegation spent far more time inspecting the national theater than the two other venues, spawning speculation that it may be chosen for the North’s musical performance in Seoul.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.