North Korea has released what seems to be a cheerful propaganda music video promoting its leader, Kim Jong Un, on Wednesday, April 17. The video was broadcasted on Korean Central Television, North Korea’s state-controlled media, and has since been reuploaded by several international news outlets.
In the upbeat video, North Koreans of all ages and professions can be seen belting an enthusiastic chorus: “Let’s sing of Kim Jong Un, our great leader.”
“Let’s boast of Kim Jong Un, our friendly father,” chants an ensemble of voices. “Warm-hearted like your mother, benevolent like your father. He is holding his 10 million children in his arms, and taking care of us with all his heart.”
The song’s music video appears to portray North Korea as an optimistic, affluent society, with its people rallying in unanimous support behind Kim: Schoolchildren jumping in happiness as doves fly into a cloudless blue sky; women in Korean hanbok flinging flowers into the air with a glowing golden backdrop; men clad in camouflage and helmets sitting atop a military vehicle, clapping and swaying from side to side as a North Korean flag flies proudly above their heads. Kim himself also appears in multiple scenes: He is swarmed by gleeful children in one and congratulating an emotional soldier in another.
Additionally, Radio Free Asia has pointed out that in the music video, several items that violate sanctions on North Korea have appeared, from synthesizers to headphones. Ironically, in opting to include these items in the video, the North Korean administration seems to be openly flaunting its violation of imposed international sanctions.
The song was also performed with an orchestra live at a ceremony which celebrated the completion of a project involving the construction of 10,000 new apartments in the capital, Pyongyang. The ribbon-cutting event celebrating the occasion was also aired on North Korean television by Korean Central Television. Kim appeared at the event in a black leather jacket, stepping out from a shiny black limousine onto the middle of a road flanked on either side by cheering crowds. He is then seen cutting the ribbon in half as fireworks are set off, confetti and balloons fly, and ecstatic citizens wave and cry in the crowd below.
However, an ominous and disconcerting tone seems to underlie the fantastic facade. Despite the picture-perfect representation of North Korea depicted by the video, North Korean poverty rates have been estimated to have remained above a staggering 60% as of 2023. Moreover, around 45.5% of the population remains undernourished, according to a publication of The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2023.
As North Koreans continue to face this pressing, bleak reality, it seems Kim has been making more of an effort to reinforce a positive opinion of his public image in hopes that the people will continue to “trust and follow him with one heart.”
