All eyes have been on North Korea's cheerleading squad at this year's Asian Games in Busan, South Korea.
The 100 or so 20-something women have been the target of much of the media attention that has naturally focussed on the 184 athletes competing in 18 sports from the hermit kingdom in the north.
They are "protected" from the media and locals by a phalanx of South Korean security officials at all times and the word is they cannot be approached for their own safety.
This did not stop the Taipei Times, however, from getting an "exclusive" interview, of sorts.
Dressed in majorette uniforms and cheering on their rowing team on the banks of the Nakdong River yesterday, some of the women were confident enough to say a few words through one of the plain-clothes security officers who was "protecting" them.
Foregoing the customary anonymity, plain-clothes officer Min Kyak-jun forwarded messages to a group of nearby North Korean women and ferried back the replies.
Did the North Korean women believe the local saying, "Southern men are more handsome than nor-thern ones, while northern women are more beautiful than southern ones?"
"Yes," was the answer. Apparently, southern women smoke, wear torn jeans and too much makeup.
They also have plastic surgery [one in 20 South Korean women in their 20s has had cosmetic surgery] which North Korean women do not need.
Were they surprised by anything they had seen in South Korea so far?
"Yes, they expected there to be more Americans."
Were they concerned about threats by former South Korean spies to bomb their ship, the Mankyongbong 92, which is docked in Busan harbor and on which they will stay throughout their visit?
"No comment."
At which point they had to go off and perform at a medal ceremony.
I asked Min if he thought North Korean women were more beautiful and he said, "Yes, they are but not at the moment because they don't have enough to eat."
China managed to get Taiwan to march behind its athletes in the opening ceremony even though it should have followed, a local paper has reported.
At the opening ceremony last Sunday, Taiwan's delegation marched in 35th among the 44 countries, behind a banner saying Chinese Taipei in Korean script.
If Taiwan had been allowed to march under its real name, "Taeman" in Korean, it would have followed behind the first delegation, Nepal, as the order was determined by the Korean alphabet.
The Korean Times reported a Busan Asian Games Organizing Committee (BAGPC) official as saying the decision had been made with Beijing's non-recognition of China in mind.
"If Taiwan came in before China, it could have aroused friction," the paper reported the official as saying.
What China asked for and got was BAGOC's use of the expression "44 countries and territories" as opposed to "44 countries," in referring to the Olympic Committee of Asian members in Busan.
"The Chinese Embassy earlier placed an official request to the Foreign Affairs-Trade Ministry, alleging that recognition of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau could lead to diplomatic complications," the BAGOC anonymous source was reported as saying.
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