Seoul — A 140-member North Korean orchestra will perform in South Korea during February’s Winter Olympics, the two sides announced on Monday, amid a tentative rapprochement after months of tension over Pyongyang’s nuclear programme. The North agreed last week to send athletes, officials and others to the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang. The two sides agreed an artistic troupe would be part of the delegation, and four officials from each country met on Monday at the border truce village of Panmunjom to thrash out details of that visit. The 140 members of the Samjiyon Orchestra will stage concerts in the capital Seoul and the eastern city of Gangneung close to Pyeongchang which is hosting the Games, said a joint statement after the talks. "The South will ensure the safety and convenience of the North’s performing squad to the utmost extent," it said. If they go ahead, the concerts will be the first time a North Korean artistic troupe has performed in the capitalist South since 2002, du...
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