By Kang Seung-woo
North Korea will send a team of cheerleaders along with its athletes to the Incheon Asian Games to be held from Sept. 19 to Oct. 4.
This apparent peace gesture comes in contrast to orders issued by leader Kim Jong-un during a recent inspection of troops guarding the eastern coastline in Wonsan.
Kim was quoted by the state-controlled Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) as instructing troops to shoot and drown any foes found attempting to get onto the shoreline.
"We have no reason to turn down the cheerleaders," a Ministry of Unification official said about the North's cheerleaders set to attend the games.
The North explained that sending the team was aimed at helping improve inter-Korean ties.
"Our sincere decision this time will melt the frozen North-South relations with the heat of national reconciliation while displaying the entire Korean people's will toward reunification," the North said.
The proposal also follows Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Seoul ahead of going to the North, breaking an unwritten protocol between the two allies. During his visit, Xi talked about the deepening friendship with Seoul.
This will be the first time in nine years for the North to send a squad of cheerleaders to a sporting event held in the South. The dictatorial regime last dispatched cheerleaders to the South for the 2005 Asian Athletics Championships that also took place in the port city.
The squad may be composed of some 100 women in their early- or mid-20s, according to Kim Gyeong-sung, the South Korean head of the Inter-Korean Athletic Exchange Association, who met North Korean officials in China in March.
"The size may be around 100 20-something women who are chosen on the basis of appearance and ideology," Kim said.
On May 23, the North announced it would send a delegation of 150 athletes for 14 events.
The ministry said that it would take necessary procedures to provide hospitality for the athletes and the cheerleaders in accordance with international standards.
"It has yet to be decided whether to hold working-level talks with North Korea or deal with the preparation issues through the games' organizing committee," ministry spokesman Kim Eui-do said.
However, the government remains cautious about fielding a unified team, a joint march or a joint cheerleaders' team.
So far, the North has dispatched cheerleaders to three sporting events in the South — the 2002 Asian Games, 2003 Summer Universiade and 2005 Asian Athletics Championships — and the current squad, comprised of young good-looking women, created a sensation at each event they attended, drawing more attention from the public as well as the media than the athletes.
More notably, Ri Sol-ju, the wife of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, also visited the South as a member of the cheerleaders' squad in 2005.
Along with announcing the cheerleading group, the North called on the South to change its North Korean policy and mend ties between the two Koreas.
The North insisted that the South stick to multiple joint declarations and lift the May 24 sanctions in order to create a mood for inter-Korean dialogue.
The sanctions forbid all inter-Korean cooperation except for activities at the Gaeseong Industrial Complex and were impose following the sinking of the Naval ship Cheonan by a North Korean torpedo in March 2010.
North Korea will send a team of cheerleaders along with its athletes to the Incheon Asian Games to be held from Sept. 19 to Oct. 4.
This apparent peace gesture comes in contrast to orders issued by leader Kim Jong-un during a recent inspection of troops guarding the eastern coastline in Wonsan.
Kim was quoted by the state-controlled Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) as instructing troops to shoot and drown any foes found attempting to get onto the shoreline.
"We have no reason to turn down the cheerleaders," a Ministry of Unification official said about the North's cheerleaders set to attend the games.
The North explained that sending the team was aimed at helping improve inter-Korean ties.
"Our sincere decision this time will melt the frozen North-South relations with the heat of national reconciliation while displaying the entire Korean people's will toward reunification," the North said.
The proposal also follows Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Seoul ahead of going to the North, breaking an unwritten protocol between the two allies. During his visit, Xi talked about the deepening friendship with Seoul.
This will be the first time in nine years for the North to send a squad of cheerleaders to a sporting event held in the South. The dictatorial regime last dispatched cheerleaders to the South for the 2005 Asian Athletics Championships that also took place in the port city.
The squad may be composed of some 100 women in their early- or mid-20s, according to Kim Gyeong-sung, the South Korean head of the Inter-Korean Athletic Exchange Association, who met North Korean officials in China in March.
"The size may be around 100 20-something women who are chosen on the basis of appearance and ideology," Kim said.
On May 23, the North announced it would send a delegation of 150 athletes for 14 events.
The ministry said that it would take necessary procedures to provide hospitality for the athletes and the cheerleaders in accordance with international standards.
"It has yet to be decided whether to hold working-level talks with North Korea or deal with the preparation issues through the games' organizing committee," ministry spokesman Kim Eui-do said.
However, the government remains cautious about fielding a unified team, a joint march or a joint cheerleaders' team.
So far, the North has dispatched cheerleaders to three sporting events in the South — the 2002 Asian Games, 2003 Summer Universiade and 2005 Asian Athletics Championships — and the current squad, comprised of young good-looking women, created a sensation at each event they attended, drawing more attention from the public as well as the media than the athletes.
More notably, Ri Sol-ju, the wife of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, also visited the South as a member of the cheerleaders' squad in 2005.
Along with announcing the cheerleading group, the North called on the South to change its North Korean policy and mend ties between the two Koreas.
The North insisted that the South stick to multiple joint declarations and lift the May 24 sanctions in order to create a mood for inter-Korean dialogue.
The sanctions forbid all inter-Korean cooperation except for activities at the Gaeseong Industrial Complex and were impose following the sinking of the Naval ship Cheonan by a North Korean torpedo in March 2010.
