The Communist Party of China’s International Liaison Department, which invited Moranbong, deleted photos on its website of its director, Song Tao, shaking hands with North Korean Workers Party secretary Choe Hui, who accompanied the performers and abridged related text. In this post, a user condemned North Korea’s abrupt decision and lack of explanation, calling the country “childish” and “unpredictable”. It’s not easy to sit down with them.
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“He will have been angry at this very public dismissal”, he said.
Moranbong were visiting China along with the State Merited Chorus and were all set to perform at Beijing’s National Centre for the Performing Arts on Saturday, with state media showing the women leaving their hotel.
Though the deeper significance of it all is hard to gauge – neither country is offering any insight – the cancellation is particularly surprising because it had been highly publicized, nearly hyped, by North Korea’s state-run media.
China was going to send a Politburo member to the concert but decided on a lower-ranking official when it took a closer look at the repertoire, lawmaker Joo Ho Young of South Korea’s ruling Saenuri Party was quoted as saying in the Chosun Ilbo newspaper yesterday.
North Korea apparently has a hydrogen bomb.
China has traditionally been North Korea’s sole regional ally and main provider of trade and aid, but Kim has yet to visit Beijing, three years after inheriting power from his father Kim Jong-Il.
Inter-Korean relations also hit an impasse over the weekend. So it’s hard to get the two sides on the same page.
On Monday, South Korean Unification Ministry Spokesman Jeong Joon-hee urged North Korea to remain engaged.
“China pays great attention to cultural exchanges with North Korea and is willing along with North Korea to keeping pushing cooperation forward on all levels, including cultural exchanges”, Hong added, without elaborating.
Other reports said that Pyongyang was offended by unflattering media coverage of the Moranbong Band. Hyundai Asan’s Mount Kumgang complex has been shuttered for over seven years following the shooting death of a South Korean tourist who reportedly strayed from designated tourist sites but was used last fall as the venue for inter-Korean family reunions. Performances by a North Korean choral group that were on the same program were also canceled.
Although North Korea is well known for its unpredictability, the sudden cancellation of the concerts could hurt relations between Beijing and Pyongyang. Some say this incident may even exacerbate existing negative images of North Korea that portray it as being a non-communicable, unpredictable state that does not listen to China’s advice.
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It seems that chatter on the Chinese web was possibly part of the reasons North Korea pulled the performances in the first place.
