North Korea DPRK Theatre

This is the 16th item published in the collection North Korea DPRK - DPRK Theatre.

It functions as a cinema/culture provider, employs 12 employees, and can show music, opera, theater and art shows to 384 citizens.

Pyongyang Grand Theater is a theater in North Korea, opened in 1960. It regularly hosts musical performances by artists from famous groups and groups of the DPRK:

- Korean People's Army Central Military Orchestra

- Orchestra And Sang Yong

- Vansude Art Ensemble

- The Pötanbön Group

- Jeongbong Group

- Phongbo E-Society

- Korean National Symphony Orchestra

- Unhaq Group

- Wangjia Mountains Light Music Ensemble

- Samjiyon Orchestra

South Korean K-pop group Red Velvet performed alongside other select South Korean artists at the North-South concert held at Pyongyang Grand Theater in North Korea on May 29, 2018, becoming the first SM Entertainment artist to perform in North Korea in 15 years after Shinhwa.

Most of the men were dressed in dark suits, and some of the women were dressed in colorful traditional hanbok costumes at a concert held at the Pyongyang Grand Theater on Sunday, April 1. Viewers waved their hands from their seats as Korean stars came together to sing the popular Korean song "Our Desire is Unification." When the two-hour performance ended, the North Koreans applauded them standing up.

Kim Jong-un, dressed in a dark Mao suit, unexpectedly attended the performance, along with his wife, Ri Xue Joo, Kim Yo-jong's sister, and other senior North Korean officials, including President Kim Yong-nam. During the show, Kim Jong-un clapped and shook hands with South Korean artists. According to the North Korean state news agency and South Korean media reports from Pyongyang, Kim Jong-un took a group photo with the artists after the performance.

Kim Jong-un said he was "deeply touched by the South’s deepening understanding of popular art and deeply touched by the sincere admiration of our people," according to North Korea’s Central News Agency. In a short video posted to South Korean media, Kim can be seen cheering from VIP spots on the second floor, while South Korean Culture Minister Daw Jong-hwan bows to the North Korean public watching from the ground floor.

We should organize cultural and artistic performances more often," Kim told South Korean artists. According to South Korean media reports, President Kim also asked artists to tell South Korean President Moon Jae-in that the two Koreas should hold a similar event in Seoul in the fall, referring to the title of the performance "Spring Is Coming."

President Kim also spoke about Red Velvet.

I was wondering if I was coming to watch Red Velvet. I was originally going to attend the show the day after tomorrow, but I adjusted my schedule and came here today. Thank you for this gift to the people of Pyongyang.

This is the first time that a North Korean leader has visited such a South Korean performance in the North. In the past, when tensions eased, South Korea sometimes sent pop singers to North Korea, but the practice was discontinued in 2005. In the 26-second South Korean music video, Red Velvet members dance in less revealing clothing than their usual onstage attire, and sing their hit song "Red Flavour". There is silence in the hall during the performance of the song.

Full footage of the performance by Red Velvet and other Korean artists was not immediately available. However, in interviews after the concert, Red Velvet stated that the North Koreans had given them great support.

Sylgi said he cried when North and South Korea sang "Our wish is reunification" together. Another member, Yeri, said she was "very" nervous when she shook hands with Kim Jong-un, but was still "very flattered." The South Korean group includes such famous singers as Jo Young-pil, Lee Seung-hee and Jo Jin-hee, who had previously performed in Pyongyang.

Cooperation between the warring countries began after North Korea participated in the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang in February. During the games, a North Korean art troupe performed in South Korea, and President Moon and his wife watched along with North Korean officials, including Kim Yo-jong, the first member of the Kim family to visit North Korea since the end of the Korean War of 1950-53.

Some experts suspect that Kim Jong-un could use his visit to Seoul and Washington to ease international sanctions and buy time to advance his bomb-making program. Kim Jong-un plans to hold a summit with President Moon in the border village on April 27 and with President Donald Trump in May.

South Korean K-pop stars are scheduled to perform with North Korea on Tuesday. Meanwhile, South Korea’s taekwondo demonstration team also performed in Pyongyang on Sunday.

Red Velvet performed such well-known k-pop hits as "Red Flavour" and "Bad boy", but the North Korean public's reaction was the most interesting to many people around the world.