North Korean "army of beauties" prepares to land in South Korea
Hundreds of North Korean girls in their early 20s will travel to South Korea to cheer on their country's athletes at the Winter Olympics.
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North Korean cheerleaders perform before a friendly football match against Germany in Gimcheon in 2003. Photo: AFP |
Dubbed the "army of beauties", every time the North Korean sports cheerleading team appears, it attracts public attention.APreport
Following the conclusion of inter-Korean talks on January 9, Pyongyang decided to send athletes to the upcoming Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. Along with a number of politicians and professional athletes, the cheerleading squad, made up of young women in their early 20s, is one of the few individuals allowed to leave North Korea. Pyongyang had previously sent cheering squads to South Korea three times, in 2002, 2003 and 2005.
Researcher An Chan-Il at the World Institute on North Korea, said the criteriaThe selection of cheerleaders is very strict. "The girls must be over 1.63m tall and come from ordinary families," said Mr. An. "The instrumentalists are recruited from professional bands, while the others are mostly students from the prestigious Kim Il-Sung University." The most famous cheerleader is Ri Sol-ju, wife of leader Kim Jong-un.
In 2002, at the Asian Games held in South Korea, a cheerleading squad of nearly 300 members arrived at Busan port wearing colorful traditional hanbok costumes, attracting the curiosity of hundreds of locals. Images of the beautiful North Korean girls quickly made the front pages of South Korean newspapers. The media praised the cheerleading squad's graceful techniques and precise movements.
North Korea's all-female cheerleading squad has such appeal to the South Korean public that in 2005, Samsung Electronics invited Cho Myung-Ae, a former member of the squad, to appear in a television commercial alongside pop superstar Lee Hyo-Ri.
The Pyeongchang Olympic Organizing Committee admits that the presence of the "army of beauties" will help attract spectators to the games. "This will help increase ticket sales," a committee spokesman said, "and will also fulfill our wish for a peaceful Olympics."
According to South Korean media, at the Pyeongchang Olympics, the North Korean athletes will likely be accommodated on a cruise ship anchored off the coast of the coastal city.Sokcho, about 50 kilometers north of the inter-Korean demilitarized zone.