And the performers were ready to take their matching outfits and pitch-perfect voices on the road to neighboring China – until North Korea abruptly canceled the tour. Their scheduled performance at the National Center for Performing Arts in Beijing would have been their first overseas show.
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It is unclear what exactly caused the cancellation, but sources said it followed China’s decision to send officials of lower rank to the concert in response to the North’s leader hinting last week that Pyongyang had developed a hydrogen bomb.
“The National Intelligence Service (NIS) viewed this perceived slight as the primary reason for the abrupt cancellation”, added Mr Joo, who is the chairman of the NIS. To make matters worse, a Chinese member of the lighting crew pointed out Kim was referred to the International Criminal Court for human rights abuses and said Pyongyang must learn from Beijing.
China’s state-run Xinhua news agency reported, citing a “relevant department”, that the concert “cannot be staged as scheduled due to communication issues at the working level”.
South Korea’s Yonhap news agency quoted an unnamed Chinese official as saying that Pyongyang had initially sought President Xi Jinping or Premier Li Keqiang’s attendance. The Moranbong Band, however, is North Korean propaganda music with a modern twist – the all-female band, whose members are reportedly hand-picked by Kim Jong-un himself, is Pyongyang’s answer to the ubiquitous K-Pop of South Korea.
Kim Yong-hyun, a professor of North Korean studies at Dongguk University in Seoul, said the abrupt cancellation of the performances might have been due to stories about Hyon that undermine the “dignity” of the North Korean leader.
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China is North Korea’s main economic and diplomatic backer, but was infuriated in 2013 when Kim ordered the country’s third nuclear test. Several subsequent rounds of saber rattling by North Korea toward South Korea and the United States have also tested China’s patience. “Yet, his neighbors clearly believe North Korea’s economic survival and prosperity is only feasible if North Korea reverses course and pursues denuclearization”, the expert said. A photo caption from Chinese newspaper Huanqiu Shibao on Monday saying that “the effect of the cancellation of the North Korean performance is limited” suddenly disappeared from its mobile application. The Chinese Foreign Ministry also declined to comment further.
