Kim attends South Korean performance by K-pop stars in Pyongyang

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his wife Ri Sol Ju were among the hundreds in Pyongyang on Sunday (April 1) watching South Korean K-pop singers perform in the North for the first time in more than a decade as tensions between the two countries thaw.

It was the first time a North Korean leader had attended a South Korean performance in the capital. Kim Jong Un was seen clapping in tune to some of the songs and later took photographs with the performers after the show.

Sunday's two-hour concert in Pyongyang, along with a separate taekwondo performance earlier in the day, comes as South Korea's engagement with North Korea has continued to grow since KimJong Un expressed his willingness for more contact between the two countries.

Sunday's concert was held under the title "Spring is Coming" at the East Pyongyang Grand Theatre, performed by an elite lineup of 11 South Korean artists including veteran vocalists Cho Yong-pil, Lee Sun-hee, rock star Yoon Do-hyun, singer Baek Ji-young as well as K-pop girl band Red Velvet.

The same South Korean singers will hold a joint concert with North Korean performers on Tuesday (April 3) at the Ryukyung Chung Ju Yung Gymnasium, a joint project between the North and South named after Hyundai Group billionaire founder Chung Ju-yung who had long advocated inter-Korean cultural and economic exchange.