(ATTN: CHANGES headline; UPDATES Hyon's return to North in first 4 paras)
By Joint Press Corps and Park Boram
SEOUL/GANGNUENG, Jan. 22 (Yonhap) -- A North Korean delegation led by the powerful female head of a national orchestra returned home late Monday after touring concert halls in Seoul to inspect candidate venues for planned art performances during next month's PyeongChang Winter Olympics.
Wrapping up a two-day stay, the North Korean inspection team led by Hyon Song-wol, the head of the Samjiyon Orchestra, passed through the customs, immigration and quarantine (CIQ) office at Dorasan Station, just south of the border, at around 9:53 p.m. Their last engagement in Seoul was to have dinner at a hotel.
Hyon didn't say anything in response to reporters asking for comments when she and the other North Korean officials left for the North.
Earlier in the day, a nonscheduled train took the seven-member team to Seoul from Gangneung, where they visited two candidate auditoriums on Sunday. Gangneung is a sub-host city of the games, 260 kilometers east of the capital.
In Seoul, the team inspected three facilities -- the National Theater of Korea, Jangchung Arena and Jamsil Students' Gymnasium -- on a mission to locate venues for North Korean art performances celebrating the upcoming Olympics.
Touring the national theater as the final leg of the concert hall visit in Seoul, Hyon checked speakers and stage lights. She asked the operation staff to play orchestral music, and the theater officials played "Arirang," a traditional Korean song, to test the audio systems.
The delegation spent far more time inspecting the national theater than the two other venues, spawning speculation that it may be chosen for the North's musical performance in Seoul.
Hyon Song-wol (C) tests the speakers in a music hall at the National Theater of Korea on Jan. 22, 2018. (Joint Press Corp-Yonhap)
In a growing sign of detente on the Korean Peninsula, North Korea agreed to join the international sporting event and send a 140-member art troupe to hold two concerts in Seoul and Gangneung, the first of their kind since 2002, during a recent series of talks with the South.
The delegation is expected to report the results of their two-day inspection to the North Korean government, which will make the final decision on when and where its proposed art performances will be staged.
Surrounded by South Korean officials and guards, Hyon Song-wol enters Jangchung Arena in central Seoul on the second day of her delegation's two-day stay in South Korea on Jan. 22, 2018. (Yonhap)
Clad in a long, dark coat matched with a stylish fox fur scarf, Hyon, who is rumored to be an ex-girlfriend of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, remained low-profile while touring the auditorium, refraining from responding to journalists' frequent questions.
A crowd of citizens gathered in front of a hotel in Gangneung as the delegates were having breakfast on Monday morning.
A group of conservative protesters were waiting for the North Korean delegation at Seoul Station as the train carrying them arrived. The protesters burned leader Kim's picture and the North Korean flag in opposition to North Korea's Olympic participation.
As the North Korean team left Gangneung for Seoul earlier in the day, Hyon told a South Korean official, "I feel like the concerts will be successful thanks to these welcoming citizens in Gangneung."
On Sunday, the North's delegation crossed the land border via the Gyeongui Line, becoming the first North Koreans to travel to the South since the launch of the Moon Jae-in administration in May last year.
It's also the first time that the inter-Korean route has been opened since the shutdown of the Kaesong Industrial Complex in early 2016.
The North Korean delegation's visit is part of inter-Korean exchanges of working-level visits agreed on by the two Koreas for joint celebrations of the Olympics.
South Korea will send its own inspection team to North Korea on Tuesday to the Mount Kumgang area and to Masikryong Ski Resort in the east of North Korea, where they agreed to hold a joint cultural event and ski training. The 12-member team will stay in the North for three days after crossing the inter-Korean land border.
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