North Korea’s Moranbong Band had been scheduled to hold three concerts in Beijing beginning Saturday night in what was viewed as a visit to cultivate ties between the countries.
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China’s official Xinhua news agency said the performance could not be staged due to “communication issues at the working level”.
North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un and an unidentified woman watch a performance of the Moranbong Band in Pyongyang in July 2012.
Some North Korea watchers in Beijing say there might have been some problems with China over arrangements for the concerts, and that North Korea might have been offended by a lack of senior Chinese officials planning to come to the events.
According to South Korea’s Yonhap news agency, citing government sources, China had made a decision to send only lower-ranking cadres to the propaganda band’s show, a response to show their anger at Mr Kim’s boast last week that the North possessed a hydrogen bomb.
While making Kim Jong-un angry is probably not the wisest idea at this particular point in time, China has even begun online censoring of the Moranbong Band. The three Beijing concerts had been advertised as a “friendship tour” between the two nations, and there hasn’t been an official explanation as to why the performances were scrapped.
Members of the band, who left their hotel around noon, were seen departing for home at Beijing’s worldwide airport for unknown reasons.
Both groups perform music extolling the North Korean state and its leadership.
Without going into specific details, Xinhua reported a “communication problem” was the reason for the cancellation, and for the all-female band’s return to Pyongyang.
Although conslusive details on why Pyongyang canceled the Moranbong Band performance have yet to surface, the incident is considered a diplomatic blunder, and many point out it will inevitably deal a blow to relations with China.
When it comes to North Korea, there is always more questions than answers and the latest mystery involving the country’s answer to Spice Girls is no exception. Their visit to China was seen as an indication of improving relations between China and its isolated neighbour.
Others suggested North Korea would try to improve relations ahead of a historic Party Congress scheduled for May next year. In October, high-ranking Chinese official Liu Yunshan visited Pyongyang, and this visit by the Moranbong Band was widely publicized in the Chinese press.
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The band’s arrival in Beijing was widely covered, but the show was not open to the public, the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing told AFP.
