2008 New York Philharmonic visit to North Korea

[2] The program, conducted by Lorin Maazel, included the national anthems of both North Korea ("Aegukka") and the United States ("The Star-Spangled Banner"), the Prelude to Act III of Lohengrin by Richard Wagner, Antonín Dvořák's Symphony No.

[6] North Korea's leader Kim Jong-il did not attend the concert, but vice president of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly Yang Hyong-sop and the Foreign Ministry’s America chief Li Gun were present.

Evans J.R. Revere, president of the Korea Society and a negotiator of the visit, stated he believed it to be unprecedented, as other major events are broadcast from videotape footage.

On August 13, 2007, the New York Philharmonic announced it was considering an invitation to perform in North Korea that it had received via "an independent representative of the Ministry of Culture".

[10] On October 4, 2007, officials from the New York Philharmonic traveled to Pyongyang, accompanied by the executive director of the Korea Society and a member of the U.S. State Department's Office of Korean Affairs.

[13] The invitation was formally accepted on December 11, 2007 at a news conference attended by the president of the New York Philharmonic, the chairman, and North Korea's ambassador to the United Nations, Pak Kil-yon.

[14] According to the South Korean news agency Yonhap, the possibility of civilian exchanges was discussed at the six-party nuclear disarmament talks in July 2007.