DPRK advance team tours performance facilities in ROK for Winter Olympic concerts

SEOUL - An advance team of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) toured performance facilities in Gangneung, an eastern city of the Republic of Korea near the Winter Olympic venue, on Sunday after Pyongyang agreed to send an art troupe during the upcoming sports event.

The seven-member advance team crossed the inter-Korean land border in the western region earlier in the day to reach the station at the center of the ROK's capital Seoul and traveled via the bulletin train to the Gangneung city, according to local media reports.

The DPRK agreed to dispatch a 140-member orchestra during the 2018 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games set to run from February to March in the ROK's eastern county of Pyeongchang.

The DPRK orchestra planned to hold concerts in Gangneung near the Pyeongchang county as well as in Seoul. Pyongyang also promised to send its athletes, cheerleaders and a high-ranking delegation.

The advance team toured two potential venues in Gangneung for their upcoming performances during the Olympic period. It will travel to Seoul on Monday to check concert halls in the capital city.