China’s state-controlled media remained silent Sunday about the sudden cancellation of a series of concerts by an all-female North Korean band formed by the North’s leader Kim Jong-un.
The Moranbong Band had been scheduled to perform for three days in Beijing starting Saturday, in what was seen as an apparent sign of warming ties between the allies. However, the band abruptly headed home hours before the first concert began.
Citing a “relevant department,” China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency reported that the concerts “cannot be staged as scheduled due to communication issues at the working level.”
The brief report did not elaborate about what the “communication issues” were.
China’s foreign ministry officials were not immediately available for comments on Sunday.
Other than the brief Xinhua report, other state-run media organizations, such as the People’s Daily and the Global Times, did not report on the North Korean band’s performance cancellations.
News reports about the North Korean bands were apparently deleted on China’s Internet portal websites, including Baidu, on Sunday morning.
It was not immediately known why the North Korean band returned home hours before the performances were to begin. They were not open to the public and were invitation-only.
Some North Korean watchers speculated that Pyongyang might have canceled the performances because top Chinese leaders, including President Xi Jinping, declined to attend.
Others said there might have been complaints from North Korea over media coverage of the band’s leader, Hyon Song-wol, who is reportedly a former girlfriend of the North Korean leader Kim. (Yonhap)
