A North Korean pop group cancelled its Beijing concerts last week when Chinese authorities objected to “anti-American” lyrics in the show, said a source with ties to both countries.
The Moranbong band was visiting China with the State Merited Chorus and had been due to perform in Beijing on 12 December, but cancelled three hours before the show was to start.
The source said that Chinese censors had not approved of references to the United States an “ambitious wolf”, and lyrics which glorified the 1950-53 Korean War.
“China did not ask that the lyrics be changed but it did not pass screening by censors,” said the source, who declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of the subject. “China was of the view that the lyrics would unnecessarily provoke the US.”
China has tried to act as a broker between the United States and North Korea and has repeatedly attempted to get the rivals to cool their rhetoric.
The Moranbong Band is Kim Jong-un’s pet project, founded as part of an ambition to put his personal stamp on North Korean arts, and the short haircuts of the group’s young women members are trend-setting in the capital, Pyongyang.
The ensemble, whose members were reportedly handpicked by Kim, was formed in 2012, with the China shows to be their first overseas outing.
China’s official Xinhua news agency has said the performance could not be staged because of “communication issues at the working level”.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman refused to comment on the latest claim.
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China and North Korea were allies in the Korean War against a US-led coalition and South Korea, and some Chinese veterans of that war had been invited to the concert.
The North Koreans considered the Chinese officials invited to the event to be too low-ranking, the source added.
The North Koreans protested after the censor disapproved of the lyrics, refusing to change them and returning home after consulting Kim, the source said.
Beijing invited the group to thank North Korea for hosting senior Chinese official Liu Yunshan at a military parade marking the 70th anniversary of the ruling Workers’ Party in Pyongyang, the source said.
Chinese authorities paid for plane tickets and accommodation for the band.
North Korea has not commented on the cancelled show, but analysts say the move was a setback for relations between the countries.
China is North Korea’s main economic and diplomatic backer, but was infuriated in 2013 when Kim ordered the country’s third nuclear test. Several subsequent rounds of sabre rattling by North Korea towards South Korea and the United States have also tested China’s patience.
