The Strange Case Of North Korea’s Cheerleaders

North Korea and South Korea do not always interact. But when they do, it’s always sporty and dare one say, some fun too, whether or not, Kim Jong Un likes it or not. So recently, when the two countries forgot about their differences- only if, for a while- to arrive at a mutual understanding about the former’s participation in the upcoming Winter Olympic Games, heads were turned and discussions were part of staple media coverage.

To many people’s utter surprise, North Korea has agreed to send a sports team and especially- a legion of cheerleaders who will be participating in the forthcoming Winter Olympic Games. The games, of course, are being held in South Korea. It isn’t always that sports are able to become a vital ice-breaker between two countries that follow polarising, opposite views: one being withdrawn and notoriously insular and the other, a co-operative, proactive economic force.

That said, from the traditional point of view, a cheerleading squad isn’t the most important or vital phenomenon that strikes the mind when one speaks of North Korea, these being the days of an incessant dialogue, rather threat from Kim Jong Un’s lair with regards to the country’s nuclear capabilities. Still, one feels that with their participation in the games, the world would be able to appreciate a rare facet about a country that has predominantly chosen to caste itself in a rather aloof shell. But truth be told, the life of a cheerleader cannot always be that easy. Of course, how can it be, when you happen to represent a somewhat draconian state called North Korea?

The cheerleaders team is put to a process of intense questioning and several scans in order to establish that they are not planning to defect to another part of the world; leaving North Korea behind. Often, efforts are put to establish whether they don’t seem pro-Japanese in their outlook and are accordingly selected to be picked for representing the country on an overseas tour. But sporting events aren’t exactly an alien concept for North Korea’s cheerleaders. Of course, there’s the domestic Arirang festival that happens each year within North Korea where cheerleaders are seen in rich aplomb.

For those of us who aren’t aware what Arirang festival is, it must be shared that it is North Korea’s annual mass gymnastics event. Over the course of past several years, North Korean cheerleaders have occasionally been representing athletes to different parts of the world. So it can’t be said that the country is absolutely, grimly locked and indisposed to the entire world.