S. Korea to hold concert along Demilitarised Zone to celebrate 1st anniv. of Pyongyang Declaration

A concert will be held along the heavily fortified Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) in South Korea on Monday in commemoration of the first anniversary of the Joint Pyongyang Declaration, adopted by the leaders of the two Koreas last year.

The DMZ Peace Concert will be held at Dorasan Station, just south of the border with North Korea, in the evening with the theme "Culture Connects." It will bring together musicians from many different genres for a joint performance and will be attended by the South Korean ministers of culture, foreign affairs and unification, Yonhap reported.

On September 19 last year, South Korea's President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un signed the declaration in Pyongyang in recognition of their joint determination to end military hostility across the border and to boost cooperation.

Seoul has since rammed up efforts to transform the DMZ and surrounding areas into a symbol of peace by adopting an array of cultural projects, including the opening of some of the trails along the southern side of the border to the public.

The concert lineup includes Chinese-American cellist Yo-Yo Ma; prominent Korean traditional drummer and performer Kim Deok-su; Ahn Sook-sun, master singer of the Korean traditional solo opera "pansori;" and female K-pop duo Rooftop Moonlight, according to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

The two-hour concert will feature traditional Korean dances from both the South and the North, Yo-Yo Ma's unaccompanied cello performance, children's songs from the era before the division of the two Koreas and a piano performance by Kim Cheol-woong, a North Korean pianist who defected to South Korea.

The audience will consist of South Koreans whose hometowns are in the North, North Korean defectors, Korean War veterans as well as South Korean and American soldiers stationed near the border areas, according to the ministry.

"The ministry wishes that the upcoming DMZ Peace Concert can become a chance to draw the world's attention to the peace that is building on the Korean Peninsula," a ministry official was quoted as saying.