NORTH KOREA'S cheerleaders serenaded South Korean fans with tender love songs on Saturday as a joint Korean ice hockey team's emotional Olympic debut ended in tears earlier than the sister of Kim Jong Un.
The primary Kim dynasty member to go to the south because the 1950-fifty three Korean Warfare, Kim Yo-jong sat alongside South Korean President Moon Jae-in as the Koreans suffered an eight-zero shutout by Switzerland in Pyeongchang.
The outcome mattered lower than the political symbolism, nevertheless, as round 200 of North Korea's famed "military of beauties" charmed a crowd of three,600 besotted locals with nostalgic oldies — and even broke out a Mexican wave.
The highly effective Kim sister additionally attended Friday's opening ceremony, however earlier than the hockey match there have been not one of the flag-burning protests towards the North's Olympic presence that had marked the previous couple of days.
Outdoors, many locals, bundled up towards the chilly, wore the joint team's jersey with "KOREA" emblazoned throughout their chests and waved mini unification flags — a pale blue silhouette of the Korean peninsula.
After delivering an invite for Moon to go to Pyongyang earlier on Saturday, Kim arrived dressed in a black fur-collared coat and took her seat subsequent to North Korea's ceremonial head of state Kim Yong Nam, with Olympic chief Thomas Bach additionally current.
The Kim sister put her arms to her mouth in the primary interval when North Korean ahead Jong Su Hyon went shut.
However a primary-interval treble from Alina Muller set the tone and successfully dashed any hopes of a do-it-yourself fairytale.
Decked out in purple tracksuits and woolly hats, North Korea's cheerleaders sang "uri nun, hana da" (we’re one) and clapped in perfect unison as native hip hop artists rapped on a stage behind them and Okay-Pop blared over the loudspeakers in a stark conflict of cultures.
Native fans took footage of the bubbling glamour women, who smiled for the cameras earlier than unfurling a unification flag on the ultimate buzzer.
Moments later, Yo-jong approached the ice with the opposite dignitaries to applaud the Korean gamers and take a gaggle photograph.
The troupe, cheered by dozens of fans as their bus pulled up beneath tight safety earlier than the sport, have been dispatched south as a part of a North Korean allure offensive after months of fiery rhetoric threatening nuclear warfare and provocative missile checks.
The glamorous women, all in their late teenagers or early 20s, are stated to be handpicked from elite universities and bear strict background checks.
Its most well-known alumna is Ri Sol Ju, higher recognized nowadays as the First Woman of North Korea.