Classical music has a long and fruitful history serving as an informal olive branch between hostile countries. Cultural exchanges between the former Soviet Union and the West helped to thaw Cold War tensions as early as the 1950s.

Few people today know the diplomatic power of classical music better than Myung-Whun Chung, the South Korean conductor who has embarked on a one-man mission in recent months to reestablish cultural ties with North Korea.

Chung, who leads the Seoul Philharmonic, is in a unique position to use the podium as a diplomatic vehicle. Highly respected in the West and regarded as one of the leading conductors in Asia, he possesses the organizational clout to orchestrate grand symbolic gestures, such as last month's concert in Paris between North Korea's Unhasu Orchestra and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, for which Chung serves as music director.

This week, the conductor is in California as part of a tour with the Seoul Philharmonic, which will perform Thursday at Walt Disney Concert Hall. In a recent interview, he spoke about his visits to Pyongyang as well as his optimistic belief that the two Koreas will one day reunite.

[Via] Chicago Tribune

[Image Credit] Chicage Tribune