S.Korean musicians to perform in Pyongyang

South Korean musicians will travel to North Korea this weekend for the first time in over a decade, as the two countries prepare for a historic leaders' summit next month, the media reported on Friday.

K-pop girl band Red Velvet, starlet Seohyun of Girls' Generation, legendary singers Cho Yong-pil and Lee Sun-hee, and rocker Yoon Do-hyun are among the 190 people who will travel north of the demilitarized zone (DMZ) for two concerts on April 1 and 3 in Pyongyang, reports CNN.

Some of the delegation played in North Korea in the 1990s and 2000s, before relations broke down and the concerts stopped in 2005.

South Korea blasted K-pop toward the North with giant speakers as part of propaganda broadcasts.

On Yoon's first visit to the North Korean capital, he told CNN, one of his band members was almost stopped from playing since his hair was yellow.

North and South Korea are still technically at war and their citizens are rarely allowed to cross the heavily fortified DMZ, CNN reported.

The first substantive cultural exchange took place in September 1985.

--IANS

ksk/bg