Torch Song

How's this for a postscript to the New York Philharmonic's historic performance in Pyongyang: over the weekend, the United Nations announced that it will withdraw its staff from the Olympic torch's trip through North Korea. The Sunday Times of London reported, "North Korea is frequently listed among the world's worst offenders against human rights. It maintains labor camps in the remote north of the country, publicly executes dissidents and practices racially motivated infanticide on babies born to refugees who have been sent back from China. In recent weeks North Korea has test-fired missiles, while stalling international negotiations over its nuclear weapons, and unleashed belligerent rhetoric against the new president of South Korea."

So much for hopes that the New York Philharmonic's visit would herald a new era of reform in Kim Jong Il's dictatorship or that the concert would usher in an era of détente between Pyongyang and the West. The United Nations isn't known for its fine moral distinctions — Cuba, Iran, and North Korea are all members, while Taiwan is excluded from the General Assembly. But that even the United Nations won't play along with the farcical idea that North Korea is just some regular member of the community of nations — well, it's a rare sign of common sense emanating from Turtle Bay. Something to think about the next time an invitation comes from Pyongyang addressed to Lincoln Center.