North Korean cheerleaders arrive in South Korea for PyeongChang Games
- 6 years ago
Turning our focus to the visiting cheerleaders from North Korea.
We're seeing them in South Korea for the first time in well over a decade.
Other than celebrating the spirit of the Games together, their mission is to support the athletes of both Koreas during the events.
Getting us better acquainted with the group... is our Park Hee-jun.
One after another, they marched, wearing a red coat and dark fur hat,...
and on their chests, the North Korean flag.
These are the 229 North Korean cheerleaders who crossed the Demilitarized Zone Wednesday,... to root for both South and North Korean athletes during the PyeongChang Winter Olympics. While passing through immigration control,... they greeted journalists with bright smiles.
"It's nice to meet you."
Most of them appeared to be in their early 20s.
They carried both traditional and Western style musical instruments, and when asked by journalists about their repertoire, they gave a simple but concise answer.
"You'll know when you see it."
This marks the fourth occasion for the North Korean cheerleading squad, popularly known as the "army of beauties", to visit South Korea. Their last appearance in the South was 13 years ago during the 2005 Asian Athletics Championships.
North Korea did not always send young women to cheer at global sports events.
For the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Pyongyang sent a mixed group of middle-aged men and women-- and for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, the regime sent a team of one hundred male cheerleaders who were estimated to be in their their 40s and 50s.
Although only a handful of North Korean athletes are competing in PyeongChang,...the cheerleading squad is also expected to perform for the unified women's ice hockey team, as well as South Korean athletes throughout the games.
Park Hee-jun, Arirang News.
We're seeing them in South Korea for the first time in well over a decade.
Other than celebrating the spirit of the Games together, their mission is to support the athletes of both Koreas during the events.
Getting us better acquainted with the group... is our Park Hee-jun.
One after another, they marched, wearing a red coat and dark fur hat,...
and on their chests, the North Korean flag.
These are the 229 North Korean cheerleaders who crossed the Demilitarized Zone Wednesday,... to root for both South and North Korean athletes during the PyeongChang Winter Olympics. While passing through immigration control,... they greeted journalists with bright smiles.
"It's nice to meet you."
Most of them appeared to be in their early 20s.
They carried both traditional and Western style musical instruments, and when asked by journalists about their repertoire, they gave a simple but concise answer.
"You'll know when you see it."
This marks the fourth occasion for the North Korean cheerleading squad, popularly known as the "army of beauties", to visit South Korea. Their last appearance in the South was 13 years ago during the 2005 Asian Athletics Championships.
North Korea did not always send young women to cheer at global sports events.
For the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Pyongyang sent a mixed group of middle-aged men and women-- and for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, the regime sent a team of one hundred male cheerleaders who were estimated to be in their their 40s and 50s.
Although only a handful of North Korean athletes are competing in PyeongChang,...the cheerleading squad is also expected to perform for the unified women's ice hockey team, as well as South Korean athletes throughout the games.
Park Hee-jun, Arirang News.