North Korea has removed Cuba from the list of participating countries in the Spring Friendship Art Festival, held in honor of the late Kim Il Sung’s birthday, otherwise known as the “Day of the Sun” (April 15th). This action is interpreted as an expression of dissatisfaction over Cuba’s sudden establishment of diplomatic relations with South Korea last month.
The Workers’ Party’s newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, reported on the 27th, “The 33rd Spring Friendship Art Festival will be held in the capital, Pyongyang, on the 112th birth anniversary of the great leader, Kim Il Sung.”
The newspaper announced that dozens of famous art, dance, and acrobatic troupes from various countries will participate in the event. However, the specific list of countries was not disclosed.
The festival’s organizing committee announced through its website last November that the event would be held from April 11th to 25th and that Cuba had applied to participate, along with other countries such as Russia, Laos, and Vietnam.
The committee introduced Cuba as the 3rd “News related to invitations” on its website, explaining that The Mixed Chorus, recommended by the Cuban Culture Ministry, the Contrastes Guitar Duo, the National Concert Music Center’s piano soloist, the Ventus Havana Woodwind Quintet, and the Nyas Mobiles Woodwind Trio have applied to participate.
However, the post introducing Cuba’s participation disappeared from the festival’s website the same day. The committee posted 20 news articles related to the invitations; only the third post, related to Cuba, had been deleted. It seems possible that North Korea may have denied the Cuban art troupe’s participation in the festival.
This is interpreted as North Korea’s expression of discomfort towards Cuba after the establishment of diplomatic relations between South Korea and Cuba. North Korea has not mentioned Cuba in its state-run media since the announcement of the establishment of the South Korea-Cuba diplomacy. The establishment of diplomatic ties was announced on the night of the 14th of last month, and the Rodong Sinmun stopped reporting news involving Cuba after reporting that Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel condemned Israel’s attack on Palestine on the 15th.
The Rodong Sinmun often reports news of countries with good relations, including Cuba, Russia, and China, on its sixth page. It is somewhat unusual for them not to report news about Cuba for over a month. This can be seen as North Korea indirectly expressing its dissatisfaction with Cuba.
It seems they did not know about South Korea and Cuba’s diplomatic relations until after the announcement, so they reported the Cuban news the day after. This may be internally regarded as a “humiliating” act for North Korea. Further, North Korea’s level of dissatisfaction is likely to be high, as it is possible that they did not receive any prior notice from Cuba about their establishment of diplomatic relations with South Korea.
The newspaper reported on the 18th, more than a month after the diplomatic ties between South Korea and Cuba had been established, that the North Korean Ambassador to Cuba, Ma Chol Su, met with President Diaz-Canel before returning home. There is a possibility that Ambassador Ma’s return may also serve as a punishment. North Korea has not yet announced Ambassador Ma’s successor.
