A North Korean cheerleader dances while her compatriots wear masks of a man, claimed by some conservatives to be depicting the country's late founding leader Kim Il-sung, during a women's Olympic ice hockey game between a unified Korea team and Switzerland in Gangneung, Feb. 10. / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul

By Yi Whan-woo

Speculation is rife about why North Korea has decided not to send an art troupe or cheerleaders to the Winter Paralympics in PyeongChang this week after sending the groups to the Winter Olympics in February.

The two Koreas initially agreed to send a 150-member delegation of officials, athletes, cheerleaders, art performers and journalists to the Paralympics, slated for March 9 to 18, during talks Jan. 17.

But in follow-up talks, Feb. 27, North Korea excluded the art troupe and cheerleaders from its delegation list.

The Ministry of Unification attributed Pyongyang's decision to "internal circumstances."

It said the secretive state may believe it is no longer necessary to send more performers and cheerleaders because the previous troupes had "helped improve inter-Korean relations to some extent" during the Olympics (Feb. 9-25).

Sources familiar with Pyongyang disagreed with the government, claiming the North may have been disappointed with the poorer-than-expected effect of its charm offensive.

"Only a restricted number of people were able to watch the Samjiyon Orchestra's performance and it fell short of drawing public attention as Pyongyang had anticipated," a source said. "The North also may have learned that its cheerleading squad no longer receives as much attention here as it did in the past."

Only invited South Korean officials and citizens who won a lottery for free tickets watched the performance of the Samjiyon Orchestra, comprised of 140 musicians, singers and dancers.

A separate group of 230 women, mostly in their teens and 20s who were handpicked by leader Kim Jong-un, visited PyeongChang and cheered for both North and South Korean athletes with carefully choreographed songs and dances.

Dubbed the "army of beauties," the cheerleading squad was sensational in its past three visits to the South for the 2002 Asian Games in Busan, the 2003 Summer Universiade in Daegu and the 2005 Asian Athletics Championships in Incheon.

But the squad drew less attention in PyeongChang. In fact, the cheerleaders' synchronized chants and identical costumes made them a laughing stock in some Western media.

The squad also stirred up controversy here as well when members wore masks of a man during a women's ice hockey game between a unified Korea team and Switzerland on Feb. 10.

Some conservatives claimed that the masks were of North Korea's late founding leader Kim Il-sung and that the North was using the Olympics for propaganda.

Another source argued that art was a "mere political tool for propaganda" for the Kim regime, saying, "Sending an art troupe and a cheerleading squad is not necessary if there is little possibility they will achieve their political purpose."

A third source speculated that the public was less interested in the Paralympics than the Olympics and that this is another reason for North Korea's decision.

The North Korean delegation for the Paralympics will arrive in the South, March 7.

It will be the first time that athletes from the repressive state will have participated in a Winter Paralympics.