New York Philharmonic performs amidst lingering tensions between isolationist nation and West. Clapton next, first rocker invited.

By Matthew B. Zeidman

NEW YORK, NY (Hollywood Today) 2/26/08 – President Bush may have labeled North Korea a member of the infamous “Axis of Evil,” but that didn’t stop the New York Philharmonic from giving an historic performance earlier today in the hopes of a ushering in a new era of understanding between the American and North Korean peoples.

In the wake of the Phil’s triumphant visit, another historic concert is shaping up. Eric Clapton has been invited to perform in North Korea, a very surprising development as rock and pop has been banned in the world’s most isolated state because of fears over western influences.

Yet the legendary English singer and guitarist, 62, has been asked to perform in the capital Pyongyang next year, according to the Financial Times.

The Phil’s concert at the East Pyongyang Grand Theater was the well received conclusion to the revered musical group’s two-day visit to the East Asian country.

Philharmonic members received a standing ovation, as they tearfully waved to the 2,500-person crowd following the performance that included Western and Korean pieces. The entire show was broadcast live on North Korean TV.

Notably absent from the theater was North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, who made no official announcement as to his reasons for not attending the event, which was billed as a cultural exchange between the United States and the isolated communist nation.

Apparently eager to repeat the success of the philharmonic’s visit, the North Korean embassy in London extended an official invitation today to popular recording artist Eric Clapton to perform in North Korea. A spokeswoman for the British native told the Associated Press that no formal agreement had yet been made.

Though North Korea withdrew from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in 2003 and claimed to have conducted a nuclear weapons test on North Korean soil in October 2006, relations between North Korea, its neighbors and the United States have been improving since March 2007, when Kim’s administration agreed to dismantle its nuclear weapons program in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.