Key Chinese party officials visited a hotel where an all-female band formed by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was staying on Saturday, in apparent last-minute efforts to prevent the North from canceling a well publicized concert in Beijing, a diplomatic source with knowledge of the situation said Monday.
Organized by the International Department of the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Committee, North Korea’s Moranbong Band had been scheduled to perform in Beijing on Saturday in what was seen as a fresh sign that ties between the allies were getting warmer after years of strain over the North’s nuclear ambitions.
However, the North Korean band abruptly returned home hours before the concert was scheduled to begin because of unspecified communication issues. China’s official Xinhua News Agency reported that the cancellation was due to unspecified “communication issues.”
Hours before the North Korean band left the hotel in Beijing on Saturday, Song Tao, head of the Chinese Communist Party’s international department, was seen at the hotel with North Korea’s ambassador to China, Ji Jae-ryong, the source said on the condition of anonymity.
Next, Wang Jiarui, vice chairman of China’s rubber-stamp legislative body who plays a key role in relations with North Korea, also arrived at the hotel on Saturday afternoon, the source said.
“To my knowledge, the Chinese officials had persuaded North Korea to go ahead with the performance as scheduled,” the source said. “But North Korea eventually called off the performance.”
The exact reasons behind the sudden cancellation of the concert remain unclear, according to the source.
Song met Choe Hwi, first vice-department director of the North’s ruling Workers’ Party’s propaganda division, who led the visit by the North Korean band and an army orchestra to Beijing on Thursday.
During the Thursday meeting, Song told Choe that China “attaches great importance” to the visit by the North Korean band and its concerts in Beijing, calling their performances a “stage of China-North Korea friendship.” (Yonhap)
