[Photo] Conservative hysteria erupts over North Korean cheerleading squad’s masks

A controversy erupted on Feb. 10 during the unified Korean women’s hockey game against Switzerland when members of the North Korean cheerleading squad donned masks that one local conservative media outlet reported bore the likeness of a young Kim Il-sung. However, the South Korean Unification Ministry later denied this was the case, saying that it was simply the image of a good looking young man. The North Koreans donned the masks as they sang the song, “Whistle,” which is about a man’s unrequited love for his neighbor. (by Park Jong-shik, staff photographer)