GANGNEUNG, South Korea — A collective murmur rolled through the stands of Kwandong Hockey Centre here late Monday night. Camera phones were held high.
The North Korean cheerleaders had arrived.
The presence here of the all-female squad of cheerleaders — 229 strong, as part of the larger North Korean delegation at the Olympics — has been politically charged, provoking divided reactions among spectators at the Games and those watching from afar.
“They look very pretty,” said Hyun Myeong-Hwa, 58, of Cheongju, South Korea, who filmed the women as they took their seats 30 minutes before the joint Korean Olympic women’s hockey team played Sweden.