PYONGYANG, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Wednesday condemned South Korean conservatives for protesting against a DPRK art troupe arriving on Tuesday to perform for the PyeongChang Winter Olympics.
The official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said Wednesday that the conservative group "staged a never-to-be-condoned farce of confrontation with fellow countrymen" on Tuesday when the art troupe arrived at South Korea's Mukho Port on the east coast.
The troupe is preparing for a congratulatory performance for the Olympics in Gangneung, a city that will host all the ice events for the Olympics, near Pyeongchang on Thursday.
When the "Mangyongbong-92" passenger ferry carrying the art troupe arrived, Jo Won Jin, head of the Korean Patriotic Party, held a "rally against (the) Pyongyang Olympics," deliberately changing Pyeongchang into Pyongyang to oppose the DPRK's participation in the games, the KCNA said.
Protester shouted anti-DPRK slogans, besmirched the dignity of the DPRK supreme leadership and burned the flags of the DPRK and the Korean Peninsula, according to the KCNA.
"Such (a) farce of those conservatives stunned the world as they were crazy with the racket for confrontation before foreign reporters while many inhabitants of various strata gave (a) hearty welcome to the compatriots from the north even in cold weather," said the KCNA.
The art troupe left Pyongyang on Monday and boarded the ferry on the east coast to sail to the south, a symbolic gesture to ease tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
The east coast of the Korean Peninsula remains a hot spot of confrontation between the DPRK and the United States, and the latter staged numerous large-scale military exercises last year with South Korea.
The art troupe was part of hundreds of DPRK participants in the 2018 Winter Olympic Games to be kicked off Friday.
A high-level delegation led by Kim Yong Nam, president of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly of the DPRK, will be present at the opening ceremony.
During the high-level inter-Korean talks in January, the DPRK agreed to send its athletes, cheerleaders and artists to the South Korea-hosted winter sports event.