Discover some of the K-pop groups and idols who had the chance to take to the North Korean stage to perform their tracks
Did you know that some K-pop groups have been to North Korea? This happened during periods of détente, which allowed some idols from South Korea to perform in the country next door. These presentations took place between 1999 and 2005 and finally in 2018.
It turns out that the Korean wave, also known as Hallyu, which began in the 1990s and exported the country’s culture to the four corners of the world, ended up also expanding to its border counterpart and, even though the two nations live in tension Since the Korean War (1950 – 1953), a conflict that arose in the context of the Cold War, a certain number of South Korean artists have had the chance to perform on the stages of the neighboring country.
With this in mind, RECREIO put together a list of 5 groups that had the chance to perform in North Korea; check out!
1. Fin.KL
Fin.KL became the first K-pop group to perform in the North Korean country. The quartet, composed of Lee Hyori, Ock Joo-hyun, Lee Jin It is Sung Yu-riwas in Pyongyang, in 1999, where they sang and danced to the track “To My Prince”.
2. SECHSKIES
In the same year and in the same place, the boy group SECHSKIES took the stage to perform their big hit of the time “Hunch”, a song that talks about the desire to remain with the person you love forever. According to the Koreaboo portal, the lineup modified the track’s choreography for the presentation.
3. Baby VOX
In 2003, North Koreans would welcome a new female group. This time, Baby VOX was chosen to perform in Pyongyang, where the quintet, formed by Kim EZ, Heejin, Eunjin, Miyoun It is Eunhyedanced and sang the track “By Chance”.
4. Shinhwa
Also in 2003, boy group Shinhwa, formed by SM Entertainment in 1998, went to the country. In this ocasion, Eric, Lee Min Woo, Dongwan, Hyesung, Junjin It is Andy were able to perform the song “Perfect Man”, from the group’s fifth Korean studio album.
5. Red Velvet
Red Velvet was able to attend the Spring is Coming concert held on April 1st and 3rd, 2018 at the East Pyongyang Grand Theatre. With the theater’s 1,500 seats full, Irene, Seulgi, WendyIt is Yeri they were able to sing the tracks ‘Red Flavor’ and ‘Bad Boy’. Joy, however, did not attend the performance due to her acting schedule. Remember above!
More than that, the performance marked the first time that a North Korean leader attended a South Korean performance in the North, as the dictator Kim Jong Un attended the show alongside his wife, Ri Sol Juyour sister Kim Yo Jong and other senior North Korean officials. After the concert, Kim Jong Un met the SM group to take a photo.
In addition to Red Velvet, soloists such as Seohyunby Girls’ Generation, Cho Yong Pil, Lee Sun Hee, YB, Baek Ji Young and many others also had the opportunity to perform on North Korean soil during Spring is Coming.
It is worth remembering that, currently, there is no possibility for North Korea to receive South Korean idols. This is because, in 2020, the North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un compared K-pop to a “vicious cancer” that is corrupting the “costumes, hairstyles, speeches and behaviors” of his country’s youth, as reported by the New York Times at the time.
So much so that, taking into account the influence of South Korean music style and TV productions on the North Korean population, as well as aiming to maintain total control over the country, in December 2020, Kim Jong Un enacted a law that establishes a sentence of five to 15 years of forced labor for anyone caught watching or in possession of South Korean entertainment.
Source: Recreio
