A planned visit to the United States by North Korea's National Symphony Orchestra next month has been postponed following Pyongyang's launch of a long-range rocket, the head of an Atlanta-based humanitarian group said on Thursday.
The nonprofit group, Global Resource Services, coordinated a trip by 150 members of a U.S. chorus and orchestra to North Korea on April 16-17. As the group was headed to Pyongyang, North Korea on April 13 launched the long-range missile, which crashed into the Yellow Sea off the coast of South Korea.
Global Resources had been working to bring North Korea's National Symphony Orchestra to at least three U.S. cities in May, the organization's executive director, Robert Springs, told reporters. He postponed the trip following the missile launch.
"I decided the timing was not right," said Springs, who would have been responsible for obtaining U.S. visas for the North Korean symphony members.
After the rocket launch, which violated U.N. Security Council resolutions, the United States suspended a deal to provide significant food aid to North Korea.
Springs said he is hopeful the symphony's U.S. trip can be rescheduled for this summer.
"We're committed to doing the program when the time is right," he said. "We have all the approvals from the side."
Global Resources also provides food aid and other assistance to North Korea.
During the choral group's recent visit to Pyongyang, some North Koreans were "a little scared" when they first encountered the U.S. musicians, Springs said. "They do feel a real threat from the outside world."
The North Koreans' wariness eased as they became familiar with the U.S. group, he said.
The musicians performed twice in Pyongyang, singing a variety of choral works, including a medley from the Sound of Music, the Battle Hymn of the Republic and Beethoven's Hallelujah chorus, as well as Korean folk songs.
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