North Korean orchestra visits Paris for concert
Mar 11, 2012, 9:22 AM
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – A North Korea orchestra has arrived in Paris for a rare joint performance with a French orchestra led by a South Korean conductor.
North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency says the Unhasu Orchestra landed in Paris on Sunday.
They are to perform Wednesday with the Radio France Philharmonic Orchestra. Organizers say it will be the first performance by a North Korean orchestra in Europe.
South Korean Chung Myung-whun, the French orchestra’s musical director, will be conducting.
Ties have begun to warm between North Korea and the West after years of tension over Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons program.
North Korea and France do not have formal diplomatic relations, but France opened an office in the North last year to foster cultural exchanges.
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