There was concern in their camp that the international judges at the Winter Games would not respond to a tune unfamiliar to them. But for Ms. Min — and for any Korean watching — the significance of the choice was clear. “Even though it could be difficult to get high scores from foreign judges, I wanted to perform with ‘Arirang’ at the first Winter Olympics in Korea, and I did,” Ms. Min told Korean reporters on Tuesday. And with all the interaction here between North and South Korea, it has served as a stand-in national anthem for the formerly unified countries. Ten years ago, the New York Philharmonic took a trip to Pyongyang to perform for a North Korean audience for the first time.

Source: New York Times February 22, 2018 05:03 UTC