On July 1, 1989, North Korean leader Kim Il Sung delivered his opening remarks at the newly-constructed May Day Stadium in Pyongyang for the 13th World Festival of Youth and Students. The stadium was packed with fellow North Koreans and Festival attendees from abroad.

But despite the presence of Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong Il, and guests from abroad including Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe, it was a previously-unknown girl from South Korea who would really steal the show.

As she stepped out into the stadium, Lim Su-kyung — dubbed “The Flower of Unification” by Pyongyang’s propagandists — was welcomed with