A North Korean defector has given a piano recital at the U.S. State Department.

Kim Cheol-woong received a standing ovation on Monday after he performed four pieces, including "Amazing Grace" and the Korean folk song "Arirang," in the Benjamin Franklin Room at the State Department.

Kim’s recital marked the first time for a North Korean escapee to perform at the State Department at the department’s invitation.

After the recital, Kim said he could never have imagined that he would be able to play in the U.S. State Department. He also vowed to work toward the improvement of human rights conditions in his homeland.

The former first pianist of the North’s State Symphony Orchestra is an elite whose father is a prominent official of the North’s Workers’ Party.

He fled his homeland in 2001 and arrived in South Korea in a bid to freely express himself.