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NKorean dance troupe takes Vietnam stage
AFP - Thursday, December 18
HANOI (AFP) - - Brimming with revolutionary fervour and drilled to artistic perfection, North Korea's elite song-and-dance troupe Wednesday started a rare week-long concert tour in communist Vietnam.
Under the close watch of their cultural minders, performers belted out patriotic hymns and danced in praise of their Stalinist leaders, the late Kim Il-Sung and his son, Kim Jong-Il, in Hanoi's French-era Opera House.
The 35-member group -- who travelled here by train from Pyongyang via Beijing -- included performers from the state's Sea of Blood Opera Troupe, named after an epic novel, opera and movie about the anti-Japanese resistance.
Organising the rare international visit presented some logistic challenges for the Southeast Asian hosts, including the fact that none of the visitors spoke English, said a Vietnamese official who asked not to be named.
"Vietnam was informed about the event only two months ago, and none of the communication was by email," said the official. "All the messages were by paper and delivered through the North Korean embassy in Hanoi."
The occasion for the tour was the 50th anniversary of a state visit to Hanoi by the "Great Leader" Kim Il-Sung, a year after Vietnam's late revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh visited Pyongyang in 1957.
At the time, North Korea was still emerging from the rubble of the 1950-1953 Korean War against US-led forces, while communist North Vietnam, having defeated the French in 1954, was heading into its own "American War."
Half a century later, North Korea and Vietnam are two of the world's five remaining communist countries -- besides China, Cuba and Laos -- but their development paths have diverged sharply.
While nuclear-armed North Korea is poor, isolated and locked in a bitter standoff with the South and the United States, Vietnam has rebuilt US ties and sought far closer integration with its Asian neighbours and the West.
As the North Korean artists, who are trained in state schools from early childhood, rehearsed and then gave their Hanoi premiere, streets outside were humming with motor scooters and cellphone chatter from trendy sidewalk cafes.
Despite North Korea's international pariah status, Vietnam's one-party government still stresses its loyalty to the traditional fraternal ally and its state-controlled newspapers have dutifully hailed the visit.
Vietnam's Communist Party chief Nong Duc Manh a year ago visited North Korea, sparking rumours of a reciprocal visit by Kim who, according to South Korean and US officials, suffered a stroke around mid-August.
The dance troupe's Vietnam visit is "rather low-key given the promise of a year ago when it was rumoured that Kim Il-Sung's son might visit Vietnam," said political scientist Carl Thayer of the Australian Defence Force Academy.
"The low-key marking of this important anniversary tells us perhaps more about domestic politics in North Korea and the health of President Kim Jong-Il than it does about bilateral relations," he told AFP.
During their 90-minute show, the artists performed pieces featuring folkloric and revolutionary themes, the ancient trans-Korean song "Arirang," and the host country's still popular song "Vietnam -- Ho Chi Minh."
North Korean artists in Pyongyang gave a similar performance for New York Philharmonic musicians in February, during a 48-hour visit by the Americans that was widely hailed as a milestone in "musical diplomacy."
Speaking after the Hanoi show, a North Korean diplomat with a Kim Il-Sung image on his lapel said the Pyongyang artists may be planning a reciprocal visit. Giving few details, he said "maybe they'll go to America in March."
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