South Korean singer Baek Ji-young recently shared her experiences of performing in Pyongyang in 2018 through her YouTube channel on Dec. 14. Baek Ji-young was a part of an inter-Korean concert held in April 2018 in North Korea’s capital city, where she performed some of her hit songs such as ‘Don’t Forget’ and ‘Like Being Shot by a Bullet.’
Baek Ji-young disclosed that song choices weren’t hers but specified by North Korean authorities. “When told to sing ‘Like Being Shot by a Bullet,’ it felt strange,” she said, linking it to news of an execution. However, suggesting a different song was met with insistence on that choice, she said.
Reflecting on her encounter with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Baek Ji-young admitted it was “a bit intimidating.” She said, “He appeared without warning and suddenly lined up only the artists, taking us away separately,” adding, “I couldn’t have imagined meeting him.”
“Having grown up hearing stories like ‘one wrong word and you might end up in the coal mines,’ it was frightening to think I might be misunderstood.”
She further commented on Kim Jong Un’s distinctive hairstyle, suggesting, “(His hair angle was so sharp) that I wondered if the barber used rulers.” She said, “It felt like it was ironed with a one-ton iron, without a single wrinkle or strand out of place.”
Baek Ji-young also revealed unsettling moments during a photo session with Kim Jong Un. Recounting the incident, she explained that a North Korean photographer instructed the people in the front to lower their posture, to which Kim Jong Un questioned, “I’m in the front row. Are you telling me to bow my knees?”
“His comment made the atmosphere uncomfortable, but Kim Jong Un laughed afterward as if it was a joke,” she said.
Reflecting on her encounter Kim Jong Un’s wife, Ri Sol-ju, Baek Ji-young said, “She looked quite unwell.” “When I first saw her, I thought, ‘Why does she look so pale?’” she said, adding, “She was quietly and elegantly beautiful, with an oriental charm.”
Despite the apparent harmony between the couple, Baek Ji-young expressed, “However, there was no sense of a married couple.” She elaborated, “Couples usually have eye contact, shoulder gestures, or something natural, but it felt like a vertical relationship.”
Baek Ji-young suspected surveillance during her stay in a hotel in Pyongyang. She said she was advised not to mention names like Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong Un in the hotel. There were also warnings against discussing sensitive topics in the hotel room, with concerns of potential eavesdropping.
“They even asked us to keep the TV volume loud,” she said.
She recalled a time when there were no towels in her room and when she questioned it, wondering why they didn’t keep towels, she was surprised to find a massive pile of towels stacked high on the sofa when she returned after going out.