Why Is Red Velvet The Only K-Pop Group Being Sent To North Korea?
Red Velvet will be included as a part of South Korea’s performance in Pyongyang, North Korea. They will be the only K-Pop idol group performing at the event.
Girls’ Generation Seohyun will also be participating, but as a solo rather than a member of Girls’ Generation.
Netizens are surprised at Korea’s selection because other girl groups, like Girls’ Generation and TWICE, are also very popular.
However, a netizen pointed out that Red Velvet have consistently ranked #1 in terms of brand power for the past couple of months in Korea.
However, there have been reports proving Red Velvet’s immense popularity in North Korea. For example, a female North Korean ice hockey player sang Red Velvet’s song during her training.
One of the North Korean hockey players from the Korean women’s ice hockey team sang Red Velvet’s “Ice Cream Cake” during her training session.
Others wondered why boy groups such as BTS and EXO, who are gaining popularity worldwide, were not included in the performance.
An affiliate of a boy group agency speculated that North Korea could be worried about the impression the boy groups would leave.
“North Korea could possibly be concerned about the strong impression the powerful dance moves and music could have on the North Korean citizens. Even if they’ve seen video clips, what the audience physically feels when they see a performance in real life is different.” ㅡ Agency Affiliate
Others suspect BTS’s Japan promotions and EXO’s tight tour schedule to be part of the reason they are not participating in the Pyongyang performance.
The discussion about why Red Velvet was chosen as the only K-Pop group still continues today, but it’s clear that many are looking forward to the special performance.
- “It’s a girl group that consists of only Koreans”
- “Red Velvet is not a mediocre group, they’ve got the basic skills.”
- “Because they’re redㅋ”
- “Well duh, cause they know the taste of ‘Red Flavor'”
- “What do you mean why? Because they’re SM.”
- “Because at least they’re a lot better than the famous groups in North Korea.”
