After the ceremony ended, however, the hard atmosphere suddenly changed.

An 80-member North Korean female marching band dressed in red uniforms and white boots started to play some familiar North Korean pop songs and the Korean traditional hit "Arirang."

As their compatriots played their music, the athletes started to relax and move their hands and legs. They chanted, waved their hands in unison and danced to the music together even with the South Korean dancers who they had looked away from a couple of minutes earlier.

They did not stop smiling and dancing during the 30-minute performance, while journalists got in close to catch every movement of the North Koreans.

With the seventh, and last, song playing, they created a smaller circle hand in hand with the South Korean performers and danced together, looking like a traditional group dance, called "Gang-gang-sullae" in Korean. Inside the circle, Soohorang, the official mascot of the 2018 Winter Olympics, led the dance.

"The performance by our North Korean people heated up the atmosphere here," said Won Kil-u, the head of the North Korean delegation to PyeongChang. "How nice is this, seeing these people enjoy themselves together?" (Yonhap)