NK New Year Performance

[Anchor Lead]

A number of Disney characters were on hand to put on a show in a New Year celebration staged by a representative North Korean art troupe. Some analysts say that Pyongyang has made a conciliatory gesture toward Washington through the New Year performance.

[Pkg]

Theme music is played against the backdrop of a Mickey Mouse movie. This is a concert celebrating the New Year staged by Samjiyon Band from the Mansudae Art Troupe. Classic Disney characters, such as Snow White, the Little Mermaid and Kung Fu Panda, also appeared. It is extremely unusual that eight U.S. animated movies took up some ten minutes of the one-hour long performance. U.S. animation characters appeared in an inaugural concert of Moranbong Band five years ago, suggesting Pyongyang's intention to open itself up. But afterwards, North Korea worked hard to block the so-called capitalist winds by intensively cracking down on foreign movies and cultures. However, U.S. film characters have appeared in the concert again. Analysts say that this is a conciliatory gesture toward U.S. President-elect Donald Trump.

[Soundbite] Cho Han-beom(Korea Institute for National Unification) : "The sudden appearance of U.S. animated movie characters is a gesture toward the U.S. With Donald Trump coming into power, North Korea is sending the U.S. a strong message about its intention to negotiate."

Another analysis shows that the appearance of Disney characters reflects the spread of capitalist culture in the North, which is uncontrollable even for North Korean authorities.