MOSCOW, March 7 (UPI) -- The United States and China normalized bilateral relations with the so-called ping-pong diplomacy, when the exchange of ping-pong players between them in the 1970s encouraged an improvement in their political ties.
Now Washington has introduced a "sing-song diplomacy" regarding North Korea by sending the New York Philharmonic to play Gershwin and Dvorak in Pyongyang last week. The concert was broadcast live in the country and journalists reported their stories on the Internet. Americans were especially pleased to see North Koreans stand up when the U.S. anthem was played.
Pyongyang has never denied wanting to normalize relations with Washington, which it claimed was acting irresponsibly. It used every opportunity to stop the drawn-out hostility between the two nations, inviting American experts to search for and identify GIs who had perished during the 1950-1953 Korean War.
However, relations between the United States and North Korea remain jaundiced to this day, because they only have a truce agreement but no peace treaty.
The sing-song diplomacy is not limited to Washington's relations with Pyongyang. Its European allies, including Britain, have diplomatic relations with North Korea, but they need to be improved and promoted. Songs and music could be the bridge to link socialist Korea with the imperialist West.
South Korean news agency Yonhap has cited North Korean diplomats in London as saying that Eric Clapton might give a concert in Pyongyang, but will North Koreans understand his music? On the other hand, they know how to behave at concerts. They clapped, whistled and shouted, as real fans should, during the concerts of rock groups, including from Russia and Japan, in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
The New York Philharmonic's concert encouraged observers in South Korea to speak about signs of change in the northern neighbor, but this may be wishful thinking.
The sing-song diplomacy could have been a success had Washington initiated it when U.S. President George W. Bush only came to power seven years ago. Instead, he declared North Korea part of the "Axis of Evil," and now America is busy preparing for presidential elections. So the current U.S. administration most probably decided to try to solve at least one of the international problems and opted for the denuclearization of North Korea.
Diplomats from Russia, the United States, China, North Korea, South Korea and Japan have been trying to hammer out a solution since August 2003. In the fall of 2007 North Korea said it would shut down its nuclear facilities in exchange for economic aid and closer relations with the United States and Japan.
The Philharmonic's concert in Pyongyang is part of the rapprochement effort. Sending an orchestra there is easier that removing North Korea from the list of State Sponsors of Terrorism and lifting trade sanctions against it. Washington now expects Pyongyang to make all of its nuclear programs public.
White House Press Secretary Dana Perino has said that North Korea made promises that they need to keep in terms of fully denuclearizing the Peninsula and giving a full and accurate accounting of their proliferation activities. "Part of normalized relations would include possible cultural exchanges, like the one that you saw today," she said.
As for change in North Korea, songs alone will not bring it about. Nothing will change there until Pyongyang becomes assured that Washington really wants to normalize relations with it and sign the peace treaty.
Moreover, the new U.S. chief executive may put an end to the sing-song diplomacy and stop the normalization of bilateral relations merely to justify the deployment of U.S. troops in South Korea.
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(Ivan Zakharchenko is a political commentator for RIA Novosti. This article is reprinted by permission of RIA Novosti. The opinions expressed in this article are the author's and do not necessarily represent those of RIA Novosti.)
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(United Press International's "Outside View" commentaries are written by outside contributors who specialize in a variety of important issues. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of United Press International. In the interests of creating an open forum, original submissions are invited.)
