Into the hermit tyranny, with music
The Rocky
Published February 28, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.
Updated February 28, 2008 at 2:03 a.m.
Who knew North Korea's secretive leadership had such expansive tastes in Western music? No sooner does the New York Philharmonic make a groundbreaking visit to Pyongyang than the North Koreans invite British rocker Eric Clapton to come on over and put on a concert.
The orchestra was greeted with great warmth and received a standing ovation from the North Korean elite for a performance that featured both nations' national anthems, Dvorak's New World Symphony and Gershwin's An American in Paris, and concluded with a Korean song, Airang.
The temptation is to compare this visit with the 1971 visit of an American pingpong team to China. It led to a Beijing visit by President Richard Nixon, the establishment of diplomatic relations and, in fits and starts, growing engagement between the two nations.
Visiting musicians aside, North Korea is still a thoroughgoing Stalinist dictatorship. But nothing official happens by accident in this hermit land, and it does appear that its leadership is tentatively testing the possibility of a little more openness to the outside world.
Featured
-
DNC in Denver
Complete coverage of the 2008 Democratic National Convention.
-
The Crevasse
A five-part series that examines one tragic day on Mount Rainier.
-
Deadly denial
Sick nuclear workers applied for government compensation but most haven't seen a dime.
-
Final Salute
The Rocky followed Maj. Steve Beck as he took on the most difficult duty of his career.
-
'Colorado's burning'
Coverage of the state's worst wildfires.
-
Columbine shootings
Coverage of the April 20, 1999, shootings at Littleton's Columbine High School.
-
The Crossing
Colorado's deadliest traffic accident killed 20 children on Dec. 14, 1961.
-
Osveli's journey
Osveli Sales left Guatemala for a better life. Two months later, he came home in a box.
-
Wake for an Indian warrior
Oglala Sioux bestow a tribute to the first tribal fatality in Iraq.
