PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — Mickey Mouse and Winnie the Pooh took the stage in North Korea during a concert for new leader Kim Jong Un, in an unusual performance featuring Disney characters.
Performers dressed as Minnie Mouse, Tigger and others danced and pranced as footage from "Snow White," ''Dumbo," ''Beauty and the Beast" and other Disney movies played on a massive backdrop, according to still photos shown on state TV.
The
inclusion of characters popular in the West — particularly from the
United States, North Korea's wartime enemy — is a notable change in
direction for performances in Pyongyang. Actors and actresses also
showed off new wardrobes, including strapless gowns and little black
dresses.
In recent years,
performances such as the "Arirang" mass games featured performers
dressed as panda bears in homage to North Korean ally China.
This
appears to be the first time Disney characters have been included in a
major performance, though Winnie the Pooh and Mickey Mouse have been
popular among children for several years. Backpacks, pencil cases and
pajamas imported from China often feature Disney characters, and stories
such as "Dumbo" have been translated into Korean for North Korean
schoolchildren. However, it is unusual to make such images a central
part of a North Korean performance and to publicize it on state TV.
It
was unclear whether the Disney characters were officially licensed.
U.S. sanctions prohibit the import of North Korean goods to the United
States, but do not ban the sales of American consumer products in North
Korea unless they involve officials or companies on the U.S. Treasury
Department's sanctions blacklist.
The performance was staged
Friday by the Moranbong band, which was making its debut after being
assembled by Kim himself, the state-run Korean Central News Agency said.
Kim, who took power after his father, longtime leader Kim Jong Il,
died in December, has a "grandiose plan to bring about a dramatic turn
in the field of literature and arts this year," KCNA said.
The
dispatch made no mention of Disney characters, but said the concert
included the traditional folk tune "Arirang" as well as a number of
upbeat foreign songs.
Featuring
Disney characters signals that Kim may be seeking to carve out a
different image than his father and grandfather by easing restrictions
on Western culture, said Koh Yu-hwan, a North Korean studies professor
based in Seoul, South Korea.
Kim, who is in his late 20s, has sought to project an image of youth, vitality and modernity.
Early
Sunday, he led top officials in paying their respects to his
grandfather, North Korea founder Kim Il Sung, at the mausoleum where he
lies in state. Kim died 18 years ago Sunday.
Earlier in the year, a
quintet of accordionists became a YouTube sensation for their
arrangement of "Take on Me," a pop song by the Norwegian band a-ha.
North
Korea and the United States remain in a technical state of war because
they signed a truce, not a peace treaty, after three years of fighting
in 1953. The foes do not have diplomatic relations.
___
Associated Press writers Jean H. Lee and Hyung-jin Kim in Seoul, South Korea, contributed to this report.
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