Posted on 12/14/2015 5:26:35 PM PST by TigerLikesRooster
Why N.Korean Girl Band Canceled Beijing Gig
The all-girl North Korean pop band Moranbong abruptly canceled a concert series in Beijing on Saturday because Beijing objected that their program was chock-full of paeans to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, intelligence officials here believe.
China was going to send a politburo member to the concert, but decided on a lower-ranking official when it discovered the contents of the show, Saenuri lawmaker Joo Ho-young quoted the National Intelligence Service as saying.
"The NIS viewed this perceived slight as the primary reason for the abrupt cancelation," Joo added.
Radio Free Asia quoted a source in Beijing as saying that Hyon Song-wol, who apparently leads the pop band and is said to have been Kim's ex-girlfriend, ordered the band to pack up and leave when Chinese officials requested a change to the repertoire.
The source said Chinese officials found out about the program when they attended a rehearsal on Friday and asked for a number of songs be taken out. They apparently explained that art and ideology should not be mixed.
Hyon demurred, claiming that Kim personally watched and selected the songs to be included and nothing could be omitted. North Korean Ambassador to China Ji Jae-ryong protested as well, which did not improve the atmosphere during rehearsal.
/Yonhap /Yonhap
But Chinese officials insisted. Amid the deadlock Hyon suddenly took umbrage with remarks from a staffer at the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing and ordered the band to pack up and leave.
The staffer, a member of the lighting crew, reportedly pointed out that Kim is being referred to the International Criminal Court for human rights abuses, and suggested North Korea should learn from China if it wants to prosper.
But the Chinese Foreign Ministry declined to comment on the abrupt departure. The Xinhua news agency "already reported on the matter and I have no more information to offer," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told reporters.
Xinhua merely reported that the cancelation was due to "communication problems," and Chinese media did not report further.
Comments about Moranbong on Chinese websites were deleted, suggesting a deliberate blackout.
The Communist Party of China's International Liaison Department, which invited Moranbong, deleted photos on its website of its director, Song Tao, shaking hands with North Korean Workers Party secretary Choe Hui, who accompanied the performers and abridged related text.
Song had reportedly tried everything to convince Moranbong to stay, but to no avail.
Lowly Chinese staffer lecturing N. Korean officials for whom the honor of their state is everything. For North Koreans in this situation, backing down would lead to execution. The staffer could have gotten earful from his boss for messing up the politically sensitive event. However, what he said is all true.
P!
Uh, okay.
Gee.... that’s funny.
The girls told me the reason they canceled the gig was because NK threatened to NUKE the Chinese concert hall.
Too bad. They play some great music, and they wouldn’t be allowed to exist if they sang anything different. I suppose it helps if you don’t understand Korean:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fL7-7shibkw
(My country is the greatest!)
Now I vewy unhappy!
The NK regime would vaporize overnight when the CHICOMs withdraw their support.
That was the management’s story - but actually they tried to sneak them in to perform on tourist visas. The girls didn’t do anything wrong, but the management are idiots.
They’re both good. And speaking of Psy, I remember when I first watched Gangnam Style.
He needs shave.
They would. But the Norks are China’s ‘junk yard dog’.
Are they asking to be put in handcuffs?
I just spent roughly 2 1/2 hours listening to a couple of their concerts.
One last spring for a male military audience-—it was beautiful but VERY formal.
The other was from 2012 in front of Dear Leader and his wife. Much less formal and included some Mickey mouse and Snow White stuff,which surprised me.
They are all high ranking military themselves,I heard,and they are extremely talented.
A most enjoyable evening for me.
.
For anyone interested, here’s one of their songs I have in my playlist,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isUudT58Xfk&list=LLhO5lNQzGvja-olo9AJaPUQ&index=7
Being a K-Pop fan, on one of the news sites I frequent, the story I read was that their problems arose because they were here to do a promotional concert and photo shoot. From the story at AsianJunkie;
On December 9, Oh My Girl traveled to the United States for their album jacket photoshoot. And we had already told the interested parties that while we were in the U.S., Oh My Girl would open for the L.A. event ‘Unforgettable 2015’ which both celebrities and producers were attending.
We were thankful that this would be an opportunity for rookie girl group Oh My Girl to meet representatives, and we decided to take part in promotions. Since the event was not our own solo performance, there was no need to receive a performance visa.
After this, Oh My Girl and the staff had no problem with the procedures at the Los Angeles (LAX) airport immigration office and passed through, but a problem arose while at customs.
The person in charge of customs asked Oh My Girl and the staff what relationship they had with each other, and one of the staff used the word ‘sister’ and a misunderstanding occurred. They thought it was strange that we were not blood related, but said that we were ‘sisters’. And so they took extra attention to the large quantity of items and outfits we had. And since the members are young girls, they were mistaken as ‘working women’ (prostitutes) which the U.S. has a big issue with right now.
After the misunderstanding was resolved, we were sent back to the airport immigration office, and had communication with the airport staff, and our opinion was not straightened out. And in the previous step, our phones were seized and it was an extreme situation where we could not contact anyone outside. The company was detained for a long period of 15 hours, and we decided to go back to Korea because of the members who were tired physically and emotionally.
A lawyer in the U.S. is taking the effort to make sure the unjust treatment of being detained is valid or not. We sincerely apologize for causing anxiety and thank everyone who worried for us.
snip
Performance visas are $190 and standard visas are $160. So it seems likely that the company was either completely ignorant of what they needed to obtain or they tried to save $30 a head.
“They apparently explained that art and ideology should not be mixed.” and that is from a Chinese official!
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