North Korea's "army of beauties" appears set for another charm offensive in the South during next month's Winter Olympics, spicing up the political rapprochement across the border and possibly helping soften the image of the belligerent regime of Kim Jong-un.
North Korea on Wednesday offered to send a 230-member cheering squad to the PyeongChang Olympics during working-level talks with South at the border village of Panmunjom.
The North has yet to disclose details of the cheering team. But given its past record, chances are high that it may send a group of elite female supporters who fascinated their southern compatriots in the past with their good looks, charming demeanors and well choreographed moves.
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North Korea's cheering squad at the 2003 Summer Universiade (Yonhap)
North Korea has sent an average of 240 of them to three international sports events hosted by the South -- the 2002 Asian Games in Busan, the 2003 Summer Universiade in Daegu and the 2005 Asian Athletics Championships in Incheon.
It was later known that Kim's wife, Ri Sol-ju, was among the team sent to the 2005 event. She was a teenage girl educated at a elite school for entertainers.
Members of the team are reportedly picked through a vigorous examination of family background, appearance, skills and loyalty to the government.
Not every North Korean cheering squad going outside of the country is composed of young, beautiful women. The North sent a team of mostly middle-aged women and men to cheer at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
But the Kim regime is expected to send to PyongChang an elite team fit for a mission to embellish its image in the eyes of South Koreans and the wider world.
"As the Olympics is an event that draws the world's attention, North Korea may want to imprint a positive image through visual effects," said Kim Young-soo, a political science professor specializing in North Korea issues at Sogang University in Seoul. (Yonhap)