China sends art troupe to NK
▶ Pyongyang effort to boost cultural exchange hailed
A Chinese delegation of artists delivered a joint performance with their North Korean counterparts on Saturday in Pyongyang in front of an audience including North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
They were the second Chinese cultural exchange delegation to visit the North Korean capital within a month. A sports delegation featuring basketball star Yao Ming visited in October.
Chinese experts hailed North Korea’s efforts to boost exchanges with other countries and said perhaps a third delegation of education and science may follow.
Famous music of the two countries was performed on stage at the Mansudae Art Theater in Pyongyang on Saturday, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Sunday.
Actress Tong Liya from Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and actor and director Zhang Guoli were included in the delegation.
Performers showed the warm ideological and emotional feelings of the two peoples and deep-rooted bonds of blood relations in the midst of a sacred struggle for a common cause through excellent musical representation, thus fully displaying the affinity and vitality of the art exchange between North Korea and China of a long historical tradition, KCNA said.
Kim said after the performance that it was rich in feelings, unique in personality and delicate in artistic representation, adding that one would hardly realize how time passed when seeing the performance and would want to see it once again, according to the report.
Kim noted that he was convinced of the bright future of the traditional North Korea-China friendship that stood all tempests of history to further effloresce.
Da Zhigang, director of the Heilongjiang Provincial Academy of Social Sciences’ Institute of Northeast Asian Studies, told the Global Times that performances like this not only deepen the friendship between the two countries’ leaders but also between the two peoples.
The two peoples’ understanding of each other’s culture will serve as a basis to further develop the two countries’ political and economic ties, Da said.
The Chinese delegation of artists, led by Culture and Tourism Minister Luo Shugang, arrived at Pyongyang Sunan International Airport on Friday for a four-day visit. They were welcomed by a performance delivered by the North Korean Samjiyon Orchestra, the Xinhua News Agency reported.
In October a Chinese sports delegation featuring Chinese Basketball Association President and former NBA star Yao Ming paid a goodwill visit to North Korea, where Chinese basketball teams played exhibition games with their North Korean counterparts.
The recent frequent interactions are an indication that North Korea is eager to boost cultural exchanges with other countries, Da noted.
He predicted that delegations in education, science and technology from China might follow at a proper time.
Lü Chao, a research fellow at the Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Sunday that the lineup of the artist delegation is the most prominent in recent years.
“Chinese film and television art and songs are popular in North Korea,” Lü said.