BBC Online :
The performers are in Pyongyang for two shows, the first South Korean musical delegation to visit in more than a decade.
The first concert, titled Spring is Coming, took place on Sunday evening local time at the 1,500-seat East Pyongyang Grand Theatre.
The delegation, which combines K-pop, rock and other genres, is set to perform again on Tuesday.
Mr Kim is the first North Korean leader to attend a performance by an artistic group from the South, said South Korea’s official news agency, Yonhap.
His sister Kim Yo-jong and the country’s nominal head of state Kim Yong-nam are also said to have attended.
Kim Jong-un “showed much interest during the show and asked questions about the songs and lyrics”, the South’s Culture Minister Do Jong-hwan told journalists.
Meanwhile, one of North Korea’s top officials, Kim Yong-chol, has apologised to South Korean reporters who had hoped to cover the performance after all but one were barred from entering the Grand Theatre, South Korean Yonhap news agency reports.
Mr Kim, who is in charge of affairs with South Korea and head of the North’s national intelligence organisation, said that he thought that “there might have not been sufficient co-operation between the chairman’s security guards and concert organisers” at the event.
“It was wrong to hinder the free media coverage and filming,” he said, in what Yonhap reported as “a rare apology”.
Mr Kim offered an apology on behalf of North Korean authorities, saying that the restriction was “not intentional”, Yonhap reported.
Mr Kim has agreed to hold summits with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and US President Donald Trump. He met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing last week during his first foreign trip as leader.
The third inter-Korean summit – there were also meetings in 2000 and 2007 – is due to be held on 27 April. No date has been set for the US-North Korean summit.
Meanwhile, the US and South Korea have begun their annual military drills, which have been scaled down compared with previous years as both countries prepare for talks with North Korea.
Although nearly 300,000 South Korean troops and 24,000 American troops will take part, the drill will be a month shorter than usual and will not involve nuclear submarines.
The performers are in Pyongyang for two shows, the first South Korean musical delegation to visit in more than a decade.
The first concert, titled Spring is Coming, took place on Sunday evening local time at the 1,500-seat East Pyongyang Grand Theatre.
The delegation, which combines K-pop, rock and other genres, is set to perform again on Tuesday.
Mr Kim is the first North Korean leader to attend a performance by an artistic group from the South, said South Korea’s official news agency, Yonhap.
His sister Kim Yo-jong and the country’s nominal head of state Kim Yong-nam are also said to have attended.
Kim Jong-un “showed much interest during the show and asked questions about the songs and lyrics”, the South’s Culture Minister Do Jong-hwan told journalists.
Meanwhile, one of North Korea’s top officials, Kim Yong-chol, has apologised to South Korean reporters who had hoped to cover the performance after all but one were barred from entering the Grand Theatre, South Korean Yonhap news agency reports.
Mr Kim, who is in charge of affairs with South Korea and head of the North’s national intelligence organisation, said that he thought that “there might have not been sufficient co-operation between the chairman’s security guards and concert organisers” at the event.
“It was wrong to hinder the free media coverage and filming,” he said, in what Yonhap reported as “a rare apology”.
Mr Kim offered an apology on behalf of North Korean authorities, saying that the restriction was “not intentional”, Yonhap reported.
Mr Kim has agreed to hold summits with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and US President Donald Trump. He met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing last week during his first foreign trip as leader.
The third inter-Korean summit – there were also meetings in 2000 and 2007 – is due to be held on 27 April. No date has been set for the US-North Korean summit.
Meanwhile, the US and South Korea have begun their annual military drills, which have been scaled down compared with previous years as both countries prepare for talks with North Korea.
Although nearly 300,000 South Korean troops and 24,000 American troops will take part, the drill will be a month shorter than usual and will not involve nuclear submarines.
