North Korea leaeder Kim Jong-un watches K-pop stars perform

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (left) attends the concert, next to South Korea’s Culture, Sports and Tourism Minister Do Jong-hwan

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and his wife have watched South Korean K-pop stars perform in a rare event in Pyongyang.

Mr Kim clapped along and then met performers backstage where he conversed and took pictures, said reports.

It is the first musical delegation to visit in more than a decade as the leaders of the two countries on the divided peninsula prepare to meet.

More than 11 acts are in Pyongyang for two shows.

The North sent performers to the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in South Korea earlier this year.

The exchanges come amid thawing relations between the Koreas after months of tension.

The concert, titled Spring is Coming, took place on Sunday evening local time at the 1,500-seat East Pyongyang Grand Theatre, said South Korean media.

K-pop stars in Pyongyang

The delegation, which combines K-pop, rock and other genres, is set to perform again on Tuesday.

Mr Kim is the first North Korean leader ever to attend a performance by an artistic group from the South, said South Korea’s official news agency, Yonhap.

His sister Kim Yo-jong and the country’s nominal head of state Kim Yong-nam are also said to have attended.

Kim Jong-un “showed much interest during the show and asked questions about the songs and lyrics”, the South’s culture minister Do Jong-hwan told journalists, according to Reuters news agency.

READ: Pope Francis baptises Nigerian beggar and ‘migrant hero’ John Ogah

Earlier, a North Korean audience also watched a South Korean taekwondo squad perform, this time without Mr Kim.

Mr Kim has agreed to hold summits with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and US President Donald Trump.

He met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing last week during his first overseas trip.

The third inter-Korean summit – there were also meetings in 2000 and 2007 – is due to be held on 27 April. No date has been set for the US-North Korean summit.

Meanwhile, the US and South Korea have begun their annual military drills, which have been scaled down compared with previous years as both countries prepare for talks with North Korea.

Although nearly 300,000 South Korean troops and 24,000 American troops will take part, the drill will be a month shorter than usual and will not involve nuclear submarines.

In the past, the drills have infuriated North Korea but correspondents say that this time Pyongyang is keeping relatively quiet. Mr Kim reportedly told visiting South Korean officials that he understood that the exercises had to go ahead.

The musicians performing in Pyongyang include:
Red Velvet

A five-member girl group, Red Velvet headlined at the Pyeongchang Games this year.

The popular quintet who first formed in 2014 are still seen as relative newcomers, but have already managed to scoop up their fair share of awards.

They have also got a large following on social media, with some 4.5 million followers on Instagram alone.