Two musical groups from North Korea – the State Merited Chorus and the Moranbong Band – cancelled scheduled performances in Beijing from December 12-14, hours before they were scheduled to take the stage.
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While South Korean K-Pop girl bands such as Girls’ Generation and 2NE1 are all the rage south of the 38th parallel that divides the two Koreas, separated and hostile since the end of the Korean War (1950-53), north of the border Moranbong, also known as Moran Hill Ensemble, are, erm, the bomb.
The Global Times, an influential Chinese tabloid published by the ruling Communist Party’s official People’s Daily, in an editorial yesterday called what happened a “glitch” that would not affect China’s ties with North Korea, though it admitted the cancellation was “a bit odd”.
Rumours have swirled on social media. Critics of North Korea see the band as another example of the isolated nation’s attempts at soft power.
NIS reportedly told South Korean legislators that Beijing may have been “uneasy about a performance full of propaganda extolling leader Kim Jong-un”, Yonhap said.
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.
Neither North Korea nor China have commented on the latest developments, although based on the coverage by North Korea’s official KNCA, the band is clearly a chart-buster at home. China agreed to send a Politburo member, but then opted for lower-ranking officials.
Asked about the possible reason, China’s foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei replied, “I have nothing new to add” to the Xinhua report.
Another official also said such a decision is usually proclaimed in a separate way, not made public through a report about Kim’s public activity.
Although it remains to be seen whether the cancellation of the concerts will further cool relations between North Korea and China, the cancellation “undermines the Chinese willingness and demonstrates the difficulty of dealing with North Korea”, the source said.
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As a counter-gesture, the visit to Beijing by the Moranbong Band was meant to help “improve mutual understanding and friendship”, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said.
