Kim Jong-un Appears With Disney Characters on North Korean TV Korea Central News Agency, via Reuters Moranbong band members perform with Disney characters in front of Kim Jong-un in Pyongyang, in a photo released on July 9. TOKYO - After a failed missile launching, aborted diplomacy with Washington, and continuing international pressure over the country's nuclear program, North Korea's untested young leader has tried once again to take a dramatic step with his isolated, impoverished nation, this time with a bit of unapproved help from Mickey Mouse and Winnie the Pooh. North Korean state-run television on Monday showed footage of costumed versions of Tigger, Minnie Mouse and other Disney characters prancing in front of Kim Jong-un and an entourage of clapping generals. The footage also showed the boyish-faced leader in a black Mao suit watching as Mickey Mouse conducted a group of young women playing violins in skimpy black dresses. At times, scenes from the animated Disney movies "Dumbo" and "Snow White" were projected on a large, multipanel screen behind the entertainers; an article in the state-run press said unnamed foreign songs were on the bill. The appearance of the cartoon characters from the United States, North Korea's mortal enemy, was remarkable fare on tightly controlled North Korean television, which usually shows more somber and overtly political programs. The Walt Disney Company, which tightly controls its animated empire, told The Associated Press that North Korea was not licensed to use its characters. As with many things in the North's bellicose and reclusive Stalinist government, Mr. Kim's rationale was a mystery, outlined only by intriguing hints. An article about the performance by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency said that Mr. Kim, who took over after the death in December of his father, Kim Jong-il, had a "grandiose plan to bring a dramatic turn in the field of literature and arts this year." The footage included a segment with a broadly smiling Mr. Kim - with his marked resemblance to his revered grandfather, Kim Il-sung, the nation's founder - gesturing like a symphony conductor as he gave guidance on music and art to what appeared to be a half dozen North Korean reporters busily scribbling in notebooks, one of them in a military uniform. The article on the performance said it featured a band organized by Mr. Kim himself. Adding to the enigma offered, an unnamed young woman was seated next to Mr. Kim. Speculation about her identity ranged from sister to love interest. There have been expectations that Mr. Kim, who is believed to be in his late 20s and to have been educated in Switzerland, might try to take his nation in a new direction with some sort of opening to the West. However, he has also at times showed the same rigid defiance as his father. This mix of opening and confrontation was apparent in April, when Mr. Kim's government ignored international condemnation to launch a multistage rocket that it said carried a satellite, but that the United States criticized as a ballistic missile test. The launching, which was uncharacteristically opened to select overseas media organizations, proved a humiliating setback when the vehicle exploded minutes after liftoff. The launching also prompted the Obama administration to scuttle a month-old deal that had briefly raised hopes of reducing tensions by allowing resumed inspections of the North Korean nuclear weapons program. The performance was not the first time the Kim dynasty's fate has been entwined with Disney. In 2001, the current leader's older brother, Kim Jong-nam, was apparently banished from the line of succession after being detained by Japanese authorities while trying to enter Japan on a Dominican Republic passport in order to visit Tokyo Disneyland.