DPRK band concert called over ‘Anti-American’ lyrics

Source claims Chinese authorities opined Moranbong’s songs would provoke the US

BEIJING: A North Korean all-female pop group cancelled their Beijing concert when Chinese authorities objected to anti-American lyrics in the show, a source with ties to North Korea and China said on Friday. The Moranbong Band was visiting China along with North Korea’s State Merited Chorus and was due to perform at Beijing’s National Centre for the Performing Arts on December 12.

Chinese censors did not approve of a line, which referred to the United States as an “ambitious wolf,” and lyrics that glorified the 1950-53 Korean War, added the source. “China did not ask that the lyrics be changed but they did not pass screening by censors,” said the source, requesting anonymity. “China was of the view that the lyrics would unnecessarily provoke the US.”

China has tried to act as an honest broker between the US and North Korea in the past and has repeatedly attempted to get the rivals to cool their rhetoric as it seeks to promote harmony in the region.



The Moranbong Band is North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un’s pet project. Formed in 2012, the band was handpicked by the leader. China’s official Xinhua news agency has said the performance could not be staged because of “communication issues at the working level.”

Asked repeatedly about the reasons for the cancellation at a daily briefing on Monday, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said he had nothing to add to the brief Xinhua story.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 21^st,  2015.

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