The Moranbong Band Regime Consolidation in the DPRK

The Moranbong Band Regime Consolidation in the DPRK Adam Cathcart Leeds University a. cathcart@leeds. ac. uk

Source: Bundesarchiv, Berilin – SAMPO, circa 1951

Research Themes n n n n North Korean musical diplomacy (2013). “North Korea’s Cultural Diplomacy in the Early Kim Jong-un Era, ” with Steven Denney, North Korean (2009). “North Korean Hip Hop? Reflections on Musical Diplomacy and the DPRK, ” Acta Koreana, Vol. 12, No. 2 (December): 1– 19. North Korean music & influences since 1945 (2008). “Internationalist Culture in North Korea, 1945– 1950, ” with Charles Kraus, Review of Korean Studies Vol. 11, No. 3 (September) 123– 148. (2008). “Song of Youth: North Korean Music from Liberation to War, ” North Korean Review, Vol. 4, No. 1 (Fall), 93– 104. North Korean leadership & purges (2015). “’Kim Jong-un Syndrome’: North Korean Commemorative Culture and the Succession Process, ” SOAS-AKS Working Papers in Korean Studies, no. 44 (London: School of Oriental and African Studies, March).

Research Themes　(II) n Co-authored work with Pekka Korhonen n Two journal manuscripts under peer review at present

Sources n Online archive of musical performances, 2010 - n North Korean defector interviews n Funded via Academy of Korean Studies, “Contested Korean Identities on the Peninsula and in Northeast China, ” project. Attendance at DPRK music performances n Participation in rehearsals of North Korean musicians (2 x) n Performance of Moranbong Band music for North Korean diplomats at the British n

Sources n Arranging and performance of DPRK music for cello and piano https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=xvcgc. Km 7 xek

The “Sea of Blood” Opera in China Source: Chengdu Daily, June 2012

Contentions Musicians are a key element in the composition of “the North Korean elite” n The Moranbong Band is the vehicle for a limited cosmopolitanism in the DPRK n Music plays an important role in consolidating self-perception of the regime & in DPRK’s foreign media strategy n Musical ensembles not be an ideal yardstick for measuring internal turmoil – “musical chairs” n

Returned Defector Pak Jong-suk with her son, identified as a conservatory professor in Pyongyang, at her return press conference, May 2012.

Kim Jong-un & the Band, 2015

Ri Sol-ju, First Lady & Former Performer w/ Unhasu Orchestra

Sonu Hyang-hui, former concertmaster of Moranbong Band

Mun Kyong-jin, former concertmaster of Unhasu Orchestra

Contentions (repeated) Musicians are a key element in the composition of “the North Korean elite” n The Moranbong Band is the vehicle for a limited cosmopolitanism in the DPRK n Musical ensembles not be an ideal yardstick for measuring internal turmoil – “musical chairs” n Music plays an important role in consolidating self-perception of the regime & in DPRK’s foreign media strategy n