China still wants N. Korea exchanges

Chinese analysts who spoke to Yonhap agreed the Moranbong cancellation would have little influence on bilateral relations, but Yang Xiyu, director of the Foreign Ministry’s Korean Peninsula affairs office, said the leaders of China and North Korea still need to meet, and that it is hard to ascertain when that could take place. They were seen off by North Korea’s Ambassador to China, Ji Jae Ryong, at the airport.

Members of the Moranbong Band from North Korea arrive at Beijing International Airport before departing from Beijing on Saturday. But she showed up in 2014, and was among the two dozen band members briefly in Beijing this weekend.

The band’s “friendship performances”, described by North Korea’s state media, were seen as the latest sign that Pyongyang is trying to mend ties with Beijing after years of strain following the North’s third nuclear test in early 2013.

However, the band boarded an Air Koryo flight at around 4 p.m. that day to return to Pyongyang before they could even open their first show.

Moranbong, whose members were reportedly handpicked by Mr Kim, was formed in 2012.

According to Xinhua, the performances “cannot be staged as scheduled due to communication issues at the working level”.

The Moranbong Band were due to perform at a series of invitation-only concerts on Saturday in Beijing when they were suddenly cancelled. Performances by a North Korean choral group that were on the same program were also canceled.

The Korean People’s Army’s State Merited Chorus was likewise scheduled to perform at the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing, known locally as “The Giant Egg”, for three straight days from Saturday.

The reason for the band’s sudden departure was not clear, nor was it obvious what it meant for relations between China and North Korea, though the abrupt change in plans was nearly certainly a negative development.

China was going to send a politburo member to the concert but decided on a lower-ranking official when it took a closer look at the repertoire, Saenuri lawmaker Joo Ho-young quoted the National Intelligence Service as saying. Ties between the sides have been noticeably cooler since Kim assumed power in 2011.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is expected to reveal his new aides in a major community party convention to be held in May next year, a South Korean government think tank said Tuesday.

“It may put a halt on talks about creating a special economic zone between the two countries or carrying out large-scale infrastructure projects within the North”, Cho said.

The performances would have been the group’s first overseas.