North Korea’s leading girl group were due to spend last weekend delivering their unique blend of short skirts and breathlessly patriotic lyrics to audiences in Beijing — doing their bit for a bilateral relationship that has grown tense in recent years.
But on Saturday the Moranbong band abruptly cancelled their first foreign shows, amid what Chinese state media described as “communication issues at the working level”.
South Korea’s intelligence agency told lawmakers this week the cancellation stemmed from Chinese objections to the show’s political content, sparking speculation that lyrics boasting of Pyongyang’s nuclear programme may have been included.