Free Republic

Just a few years ago, she was reportedly executed by a North Korean firing squad. Now, Pyongyang's top pop diva is a senior ruling party official and a surprise headliner in the run-up to the South Korean Winter Olympics. Hyon Song Wol, the photogenic leader of Kim Jong Un's hand-picked Moranbong Band, has made two excursions across the Demilitarized Zone as a negotiator and advance team leader working out the details of Kim's surprise offer for the North to participate in the Pyeongchang Games. South Korea's media have been treating her like a true K-pop celebrity. On Monday, as she...

Why N.Korean Girl Band Canceled Beijing Gig The all-girl North Korean pop band Moranbong abruptly canceled a concert series in Beijing on Saturday because Beijing objected that their program was chock-full of paeans to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, intelligence officials here believe. China was going to send a politburo member to the concert, but decided on a lower-ranking official when it discovered the contents of the show, Saenuri lawmaker Joo Ho-young quoted the National Intelligence Service as saying. "The NIS viewed this perceived slight as the primary reason for the abrupt cancelation," Joo added. Radio Free Asia quoted a...

Singer was reported to have been killed by firing squad last year for making a sex tape but has turned up on state TV alive and well A North Korean singer said to be Kim Jong-Un’s ex-girlfriend and reported to have been executed by firing squad last year has appeared on state television, apparently alive and well. Hyon Song-Wol was shown on state television delivering a speech at a national art workers rally in Pyongyang on Friday . The singer was reported to have been caught up in palace intrigue last summer having incurred the displeasure of Ri Sol-ju, Mr...