By DANIEL J. WAKIN Published: February 19, 2008 The North Korean government has agreed to a live national broadcast of the New York Philharmonic’s concert in Pyongyang next week, the orchestra said on Monday ― an unheard-of event in that isolated country.
The orchestra, which arrives in North Korea on Monday near the end of a tour in Asia, had urged the government to permit the broadcast. “We’re very pleased that they’ve finally confirmed it,” said Zarin Mehta, the orchestra’s president. An official from the North Korean Mission to the United Nations in New York sent the confirmation by e-mail, Mr. Mehta said.
He said the wide distribution of the concert in North Korea had been a vital element from the start.
Since its invitation to perform became widely known in October, the orchestra has had to confront criticism that performing in North Korea would lend legitimacy to its government, which has been condemned for oppressing its people and building a nuclear arms program. The orchestra rejects the criticism, saying that it is on a musical mission and that taking culture to North Korea can only help its people. The State Department supports the trip.
“The fact that lots of people are going to hear our concert and see what American culture is all about is the main reason that we as an organization were interested in pursuing it,” Mr. Mehta said in a telephone interview from Hong Kong, where the orchestra was performing. “This is all part of diffusion, shall we say, and that’s what’s important.”
However, it was not clear how many North Koreans had television and would actually be able to see the broadcast. One Korea expert, Evans Revere, a former United States diplomat and president of the Korea Society, said he had seen antennas on roofs and televisions in stores, restaurants and shops in four cities and a number of villages on trips to the country.
Mr. Revere, who helped in negotiations for the visit, said he believed a live nationwide broadcast would be unprecedented in North Korea. Major events are occasionally shown nationally on tape.
“They’re not much into live television,” he said.
The contrast with the usual anti-American propaganda, which can be vitriolic, will be striking, Mr. Revere said. “A bunch of cultured Americans on a stage performing beautiful music in front of an audience that has been told a different story about what America is about ― that’s what’s of interest,” he said. “Here they have an opportunity to see another face of America.”
The concert takes place in Pyongyang on Tuesday at 6 p.m., which is 4 a.m. on Tuesday in New York. Channel 13, WNET, will show it on tape on Tuesday evening in the New York area, and it will be available two days later to other PBS stations. It will also be shown around the world.
