Gone girls as N Korea band abruptly returns home before concert
BEIJING: North Korea’s all-female band formed by leader Kim Jong-un on Saturday abruptly headed back to Pyongyang without performing its first concert abroad in the heart of Beijing that was to take place in the evening.
The concerts scheduled for three days through Monday by members of the Moranbong Band and the North’s State Merited Chorus were widely seen as the latest sign of warming relations between the two traditional allies.
Members of the band, who left their hotel around noon, were seen departing for home at Beijing’s international airport for unknown reasons.
They were seen off by North Korea’s Ambassador to China, Ji Jae- yong, at the airport. Both the members and the envoy were tight-lipped and did not respond to questions from reporters.
It is not immediately known why the band had to leave Beijing. But there is speculation that North Korea was offended by some media reports about the band’s leader, Hyon Song-Wol, this week, such as that she is a former girlfriend of Mr Kim.
Some North Korean watchers in Beijing say there also might have been some problems with Chinese officials over arrangements of the concerts.
The band and the chorus, who arrived in the Chinese capital on Thursday by train from Pyongyang, were slated to take the stage of the 2,200-seat National Centre for the Performing Arts, located near Tiananmen Square. The chorus is still in Beijing but a concert scheduled for Saturday night was cancelled, according to people familiar with the situation. Their shows were invitation-only and not open to the public, with most spectators expected to be those who have close links to the Chinese Communist Party, which has welcomed the North Korean delegation of more than 100 artists. Diplomats and experts were closely watching to see if those attending the performances would include any top Chinese political figures. The performance of the band were suddenly announced by North Korea earlier this week at a time when bilateral ties have somewhat stabilised after China sent Liu Yunshan, the Communist Party’s fifth-ranked leader, to Pyongyang in October as its representative in events marking the 70th anniversary of North Korea’s ruling party.
The Moranbong Band, consisting of around 20 members — singers, a drummer and others playing instruments such as synthesisers and electronic violins — has been North Korea’s recent music sensation. In tune with the rhythm, the singers and the musicians, sometimes wearing skirts cut well above the knee, are known for taking light dance steps and their performances have been considered modern and seductive by North Korean standards.