North Korea Culture

WASHINGTON -- China had its pingpong players, the Soviet Union its ballet dancers, Iran its soccer players. Now the New York Philharmonic is making a musical overture to North Korea. Arts and sports can open doors abroad that diplomatic jawboning might not, although the record is mixed. The Philharmonic will perform Feb. 26 in one of the most closed societies in the world, a Stalinist nation whose leader rules by decree and is accused of starving and torturing his people.