Feature Article

Music as Cultural Diplomacy: The New York Philharmonic goes to North Korea

By Aimee Meuter

Promoting a positive national image is a fundamental aspect of international relations. For the United States, this promotion of our nation is called public diplomacy. It involves externally directed, government supported, media strategies in order to "tell America's story to the world." One particular type of public diplomacy is known as 'cultural diplomacy'. A recent example of this image strategy in action is the New York Philharmonic's trip to the totalitarian nation of North Korea and the media coverage surrounding it.

Earlier this year, the acclaimed New York Philharmonic made a visit to perform for a select crowd of upper class and elite North Koreans at the East Pyongyang Grand Theater in North Korea. Accompanied by an international media contingent of over 80 reporters, this was the largest foreign contingent to visit North Korea in over half a century. Furthermore, the concert was to be broadcast live without any filters or controls, constituting a major highlight for the North Korean people accustomed to being shut off from the world. This event exemplifies the goal of cultural diplomacy: to showcase positive cultural interaction - even during times of political tension.

The international media coverage of this event focused primarily on the emotions evoked and shared between the American musicians and the Korean audience, in effect connecting the two cultures aesthetically. The message was that classical music is an artistic expression interpreted by each individual; a New York Times reporter stated, "there is no ability by the state to control the way people respond to art."

While the ability of music to transcend cultural boundaries cannot be denied and is a cultural phenomenon to be celebrated, this particular cross-cultural music event was obviously attached to controversial political matters. The media also covered the political theme surrounding the event. A New York Times headline read, "North Koreans Welcome Symphonic Diplomacy" and the article commented directly on the political theme: "[The concert] was seen by some as an opening for warmer relations with the United States, which North Korea has long reviled."

This event embodied the spirit of cultural diplomacy through the shared medium of music. The New York Philharmonic performance program included both the American and North Korean national anthems, closing with an encore of a Korean folk song "deeply resonant to all Koreans." The music program itself communicated to the North Korean people and promoted positive relations between the American musicians and the North Korean audience members-and ideally between the two nations as a whole. In terms of image promotion of the United States, the media indeed portrayed the cultural event as a grand gesture of tolerance, open acceptance, and hopeful influence upon a nation whose culture is heavily controlled by the government.