Pro-war singer Shaman will perform in the North Korean capital this week to mark the 80th anniversary of the Korean Peninsula’s liberation from Japanese colonial rule, state media reported on Thursday.
North Korea’s KCNA news agency said Shaman, whose real name is Yaroslav Dronov, arrived in Pyongyang with a Russian Culture Ministry delegation that included Deputy Culture Minister Andrei Malyshev and the Russian Strategic Missile Forces’ “Red Star” song and dance ensemble.
National Liberation Day of Korea is celebrated in both North and South Korea on Aug. 15, commemorating the day when the Korean Peninsula was liberated by Allied forces in 1945 from 35 years of Japanese colonial rule.
Shaman’s press service told Russia’s TASS news agency that he would perform at a Friday concert in Pyongyang commemorating the event. The singer is one of wartime Russia’s most prominent entertainers, known for patriotic hits like “Ya Russky” (“I’m Russian”) and “Moi Boy” (“My Fight”).
Since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Shaman has been barred from entering Canada, the European Union and Australia.
Pyongyang has become one of Moscow’s closest allies during the war, sending troops to Russia’s Kursk region to help repel Ukrainian forces and supplying missiles and artillery shells to the Russian military.
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