Controversy Over the Cancellation of Divine Performing Arts's Korea Show

KOREA—The performance of the U.S. Divine Performing Arts, scheduled from April 23-26 at COEX Auditorium, is once again in danger.

According to NTDTV's Korea Branch, which is hosting the show, on April 16 COEX sent an official letter saying COEX "cannot lease the auditorium due to an unavoidable situation," without offering any clear reason for the cancellation.

However, when The Epoch Times interviewed COEX, they changed their position, saying, "After signing the contract, we decided that the "Divine Art Performance" does not conform to the purpose of the facility's operation."

When asked about 'the purpose of the facility's operation, the COEX spokesperson gave examples such as COEX Exhibitions being used as an international convention or exhibition site.

According to the spokesperson, COEX "didn't know that this was such a big performance and a worldwide tour performance. We realized later that this performance does not conform to our purpose for the facility's operation."

When asked if there had been any pressures from Chinese Embassy or government agencies, he said, "We can't make any comment on that. We sent out the cancellation notice because it [performance] is not simply appropriate for the facility. We are willing to negotiate with NTDTV about their loss."

According to NTDTV personnel, "When we made the contract, we had already submitted the performance program. So it does not make any sense that they did not know about the performance. Although COEX Auditorium is used for conferences, recently, they also hosted a month-long run of the musical 'Jesus Christ Superstar.'"

Divine Performing Arts, a professional dance group that is mostly Chinese, is touring 30 major cities around the world. This group has created a sensation around the globe by bringing back the traditional Chinese cultures that were suppressed or destroyed by Chinese Communist Party.

On March 13, over 4,000 people attended the Divine Performing Arts Spectacular in Omiya Sonic City, Kanto, Japan. After seeing the performance in Kansai, Japan, many went to see the second performance in Omiya Sonic City.

NTDTV Korea had planned to present the 2007 Chinese New Year Spectacular in the National Theatre on January 6 and 7. However, the National Theatre sent a cancellation notice just three days before the performance, after receiving pressure from the Chinese Embassy in Seoul and Korea's Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

New Tang Dynasty TV (NTDTV) is an independent, nonprofit Chinese language TV broadcaster established in New York by overseas Chinese. NTDTV began broadcasting via satellite in North America in 2002.

Because NTDTV has reported stories suppressed by the Chinese Communist Party, including the CCP's possible cover up of the SARS epidemic and the persecution of Falun Gong, which is banned by CCP, NTDTV has been continuously harassed and interfered with by the CCP.