North Korea’s art troupe performs in Beijing

North Korea’s art troupe performs in Beijing. January. 28, 2019 08:13. by Wan-Jun Yun zeitung@donga.com.
North Korea’s art troupe performed at the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing on Saturday under tight security where mobile phones are banned. North Koreans, members of the communist party and their family were the only ones who were allowed at the venue.

The troupe set famous female singers from the Moranbong Band at the head and shouted, “China-North Korea relations will go on forever” and “North Korea will never abandon socialism.”

The performance went on from 7:30 p.m. to 9:10 p.m. According to the performance pamphlet obtained by The Dong-A Ilbo and Channel A, the performance started off with a chorus “China-North Korea relations will go on forever.” The North Korean army's State Merited Chorus in uniform sang this song. The troupe sang Chinese and North Korean songs in turn to emphasize the amity between the two countries.

More than 2,200 seats at the Opera Hall of the National Centre for the Performing Arts were full. “The audiences are those who are related to Chinese politics and military,” said an insider in China. The Chinese government even made the audience enter with their real name to prevent ticket transfers. The audience was asked to show their identification card and leave their cell phones at the counter. It was to prevent them from taking photos during the performance.