Philharmonic Concert Seen as 'Half Success' for Kim Jong-il Uni. Ministry Approves Guest List for NY Philharmonic U.S. Anthem Gets Orchestral Airing in Pyongyang

White House spokeswoman Dana Perino told reporters on Tuesday, "I think at the end of the day, we consider this concert to be a concert, and it's not a diplomatic coup."

She added, "They have a ways to go in order to meet those obligations. Once we get to those we might then be able to see normalized relations begin, and part of normalized relations would include possible cultural exchanges, like the one you saw today."

Perino's remarks completely deny some speculations that the New York Phil's concert could lead to thawing relations between the two countries.

A scene of Pyongyang. /AP

"How many journalists were able to go out and about in the country and see other parts of -- out of the controlled environment that they were kept in?” she asked. “I just think that everyone needs to keep in mind that this is a regime that has brutally treated its people, there is a lot of starvation and repression, and people are not able to lead free and prosperous lives, like they could."

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice stressed the need for the North to fully declare its nuclear activities. "We have a number of proliferation concerns,” she said. “I can't tell you what has to be line for line in the declaration. But those are the kinds of issues that I think this phase has to address." She made the remarks at a press briefing in Beijing on Wednesday before leaving for Tokyo.

Diplomats are worried that the concert could give North Korea and other countries wrong hopes that ties between Washington and Pyongyang can improve before the nuclear problem is resolved. Some officials in the U.S. administration are unhappy about North Korea's attempt to stimulate cultural exchanges without meeting its obligations under denuclearization agreements reached on Feb. 13 and Oct. 3 last year.

(englishnews@chosun.com )