The North Korean cheerleading team consists of girls in their early or mid-20s, carefully selected.

North Korea announced yesterday that it would send a sports delegation to participate in this year’s Winter Olympics in South Korea, including a cheerleading team.

The girls, who are mostly in their early or mid-20s, are selected based on appearance but must also have good ideology, BBC quoted Kim Gyeong-sung, president of the Inter-Korean Sports Exchange Association.

Cheerleaders are no strangers to North Koreans and regularly appear at the Arirang Festival, an annual sports and arts event in Pyongyang.

North Korea’s cheerleading squad is called the `army of beauty` by South Korean media.

This group of beautiful women even overwhelms the athletes in numbers at the Olympics.

Since the inter-Korean war broke out, Pyongyang has only sent cheerleading teams to South Korea three times, in 2002, 2003 and 2005. In 2014, they planned to participate in the Asian Games to `improve relations.`

North Korean girls with their youthful appearance and rhythmic dancing have a sizable fan base in South Korea.

The most famous member of North Korea’s cheerleading squad is Ri Sol-ju, wife of leader Kim Jong-un.

Ri Sol-ju (waving), wife of leader Kim Jong-un, was in the cheerleading squad attending the Asian Sports Championships in Incheon, South Korea in 2005. Photo: Yonhap

Prolonged tensions between the two countries then caused North Korea to stop attending sporting events in South Korea, even threatening to withdraw completely.

Therefore, North Korea’s announcement to send a cheerleading team to the city of Pyeongchang in the upcoming Winter Olympics, for the first time in more than 10 years, is seen as a friendly move, while also helping to improve its image.

The international community is waiting for the relationship between the two countries to thaw and Korean fans will have the opportunity to admire North Korea’s powerful `army of beautiful women`.