'NK girl band cancelled concert due to censorship'

By Yi Whan-woo

North Korea’s Moranbong Band abruptly cancelled its scheduled performances in Beijing in protest of China’s request not to sing propaganda songs praising its young leader, a lawmaker claimed Tuesday.

Citing information from the National Intelligence Service (NIS), Rep. Joo Ho-young of the ruling Saenuri Party said that members of the all-female North Korean band were also irked by a Chinese theater crew member’s “blasphemous” remarks concerning the North’s leader Kim Jong-un.

Joo, also the chairman of the National Assembly’s Intelligence Committee, said that Chinese authorities discovered at the rehearsal, Friday, that some of the band’s songs explicitly propagandize Kim.

The Beijing officials asked the band members, who were reputedly handpicked by Kim, not to perform those songs at the concert in a bid not to embarrass invited dignitaries.

Some 2,000 officials from North Korea and China were set to attend the invitation-only concerts at the National Center for the Performing Arts in the Chinese capital. They included senior members of the Chinese Communist Party’s Standing Committee of the Political Bureau

The Chinese government then changed the guest list, swapping out VIP guests with lower-ranking officials when the Moranbong Band refused to alter their set list.

Taking such changes as a snub, the band called off the concert at the last minute and returned home immediately with Kim’s approval, according to Joo.

“The NIS officials told me that the band members, including its leader Hyon Song-wol, insisted on maintaining the original repertoire, claiming it was completed under Kim’s guidance,” the lawmaker said.

“But Chinese officials demanded that art and propagandistic ideas should be separated. “Kim then said he will respect whatever decision the band makes over such conflicts.”

Hyon, allegedly an ex-girlfriend of the 32-year-old Kim, also took into consideration the remark of a member of the Chinese theater crew in calling off the concert, according to Joo.

The crew member, only identified as an electrical lighting technician, mentioned the United Nations’ decision to refer Kim to the International Criminal Court for Pyongyang’s state-perpetrated human rights violations.

“I heard Hyon was upset when the crew member said Pyongyang should follow Beijing’s footstep if the North Koreans want to live well,” the lawmaker said.

The Moranbong Band, comprised of women in their 20s, was formed by Kim before he ascended to his father’s leadership position in December 2011.

The band was scheduled to perform in China for three consecutive days starting Saturday as part of their goodwill tour amid a thaw in strained political relations between Pyongyang and Beijing since October.

It still remains uncertain, for sure, why the performances were called off.