ANDREA SEABROOK, host: This ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. I'm Andrea Seabrook.</s>ANDREA SEABROOK, host: Henry David Thoreau famously observed that in a world of peace and love, the universal language would be music.</s>ANDREA SEABROOK, host: Maybe, just maybe that's the idea behind a cultural exchange now being negotiated between the United States and North Korea.</s>ANDREA SEABROOK, host: Officials from the New York Philharmonic are in Pyongyang discussing a possible concert there, the first ever by the world-renowned orchestra. The idea for this cultural exchange came from, Christopher Hill, the U.S. diplomat at the talks on North Korea's nuclear program.</s>ANDREA SEABROOK, host: Ambassador Hill's North Korean counterpart Kim Kye Gwan responded positively and said he's government would like to invite the New York Orchestra.</s>ANDREA SEABROOK, host: Last week, Ambassador Hill announced what appeared to be a breakthrough in the North Korean nuclear talks. North Korea had agreed to dismantle its nuclear facilities.</s>ANDREA SEABROOK, host: Zarin Mehta, the New York Philharmonic's president told the New York Times that if a concert in Pyongyang could further improve relations that would be a wonderful thing.
Officials from the New York Philharmonic are in North Korea, exploring the possibility of a historic concert there. The unexpected invitation came in August during six-nation talks to dismantle North Korea's nuclear program.