BlogBack: A Korean-American on Philharmonic's Korean Gambit

Iris You, who describes herself as "a Korean-American frustrated with South Korea and U.S. policy against North Korea," responds to NY Philharmonic's Korean Overture: An American in Pyongyang:

The general public living in Pyongyang ARE social elites. People elsewhere can't afford food let alone concert tickets and transportation to concert halls. Children are starving but the government is so corrupt that foreign aid does not reach the children, but just makes those corrupt people fatter.

If Philharmonic really wants to reach the general public and bring them joy of music, forget the political agenda by singing the "Star-Spangled Banner." The general public in North Korea does not share the same sentiment as you do about the American national anthem. (They would not understand the lyric anyway. English is not taught as second language.) It will satisfy Americans who will imagine that they got their points across with the North Korean government, but not much else.

Taking the music out of concert hall to a park may be a better idea. I heard from my brother, who is a musician in South Korea, that Yanni is trying again to have concert in Demilitarized Zone [between North and South Korea] in 2008. That should be interesting!