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.