North Korea to tune into New York Philharmonic

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The unprecedented event comes as North Korea appears to be turning a deaf ear to demands to hold to its side of an international disarmament deal and give a full account of its nuclear weapons programme.

"I am a musician and not a politician, but music has always been an arena or area where people can make contact. It is neutral, it is emotional," the philharmonic's music director, Lorin Maazel, told reporters on arrival on Monday with his orchestra at Pyongyang's airport.

The concert could make a "tiny contribution" toward bringing the United States and North Korea closer together, he said.

The orchestra has tried to break the ice between Cold War foes before with a celebrated visit to the Soviet Union in 1959.

Discussions for the concert first emerged last year as significant progress was made in six-way nuclear negotiations among the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States.

U.S. nuclear envoy Christopher Hill last week said the concert is "an effort to address broader issues, address broader relationships."

Analysts say Washington sees this visit as being almost akin to cultural gestures it made to its Cold War foes decades ago that eventually helped to ease tension.

North Korea has opened its hermit state by allowing in scores of members of the Western media, setting up a media room with Internet access and almost completely unrestricted international phone lines. Both are unheard of in a country that imprisons people for making unauthorised contact with the outside world.

Analysts said that for North Korea, the brief opening of its doors is its own diplomatic coup.

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