New York Phil Makes NK Performance Official

NEW YORK _ The New York Philharmonic formally announced on Tuesday it will perform in North Korea on Feb. 26 in an event reminiscent of the ping-pong diplomacy between the U.S. and China in the 1970s.

In a news conference, the orchestra said it will hold the concert at the East Pyongyang Grand Theater. The scores will include George Gershwin's "An American in Paris," Antonin Dvorak's Symphony No. 9, known as "From the New World," and the North Korean and U.S. national anthems.

Pak Gil-yon, North Korea's ambassador to the United Nations, said his government invited the world-renowned philharmonic to promote friendly relations between the two countries and said the visit would "surely deepen" mutual understanding.

"We wholeheartedly welcome the Pyongyang performance by the New York Philharmonic," the envoy said.

But he was unable to say whether the country's reclusive leader, Kim Jong-il, had initiated the invitation or would attend the concert.

"We are accustomed to our role as cultural ambassadors of the United States, but it is not often that our role rises to a higher level," said Zarin Mehta, the orchestra's president and executive director.

The visitors will stay in Pyongyang for roughly 48 hours, Feb. 25-27. In addition to the single performance on the 26th, they will hold an open rehearsal and a teaching session. The musicians then will go to Seoul, where they will perform on the 28th.

Asiana Airlines, a South Korean carrier, will provide the aircraft for the trips to both Pyongyang and Seoul.

Next February marks the first anniversary of a denuclearization deal struck by six governments -- South and North Korea, the U.S., China, Russia and Japan -- members of the so-called six-party talks. Pyongyang agreed to eventually give up its nuclear programs in phases sequenced with incentives provided by other countries.

In Washington, the State Department reiterated its support for exchanges.

"Have we encouraged the New York Philharmonic to engage and seriously consider the request of the North Korean government? Yes, absolutely," department spokesman Sean McCormack said.

"It (North Korea) has been very, very isolated, as isolated as a state could be really over the past decades. And perhaps you are seeing some difference, some change in that status."

But at the same time, he emphasized that a real change in relations depends on Pyongyang's verifiable denuclearization.

"Then, if you have that, then you can certainly talk about a different kind of relationship between North Korea and the rest of the world, and North Korea and the United States," McCormack said.

North Korea's top nuclear envoy, Kim Kye-gwan, had first suggested inviting the New York Philharmonic as a step to building mutual trust. The country's Culture Ministry sent a letter in August making the invitation official, and, after months of negotiations, Mehta decided to accept.

Historically, U.S. musicians have assumed diplomatic roles. The Philadelphia Orchestra went to China in 1973 on the heels of then-U.S. President Richard Nixon's trip to Beijing, which led to what is known as ping pong diplomacy. In 1956, the Boston Symphony became the first American orchestra to perform in the Soviet Union.

Mehta described his initial reaction to North Korea's invitation as one of "caution and reservations."

"Our small symphony is a giant leap," he said. "What follows from that is up to the diplomats to deal with, and government officials. All we can do is show the way that music can unite people."

(Yonhap)