Kim Jong Un turns into TikTok star: new propaganda music turns into viral hit
A North Korean propaganda song about Kim Jong Un has gone viral on TikTok gaining millions of views.
The song titled ‘Friendly Father’ praises the country’s Communist dictator and has garnered a number of Gen Z fans on Tik Tok with one saying ‘wait, this slaps’ and another asking if it is available on Spotify.
Kim Jong Un has joined the likes of Taylor Swift and Harry Styles to have a song go viral on the social media site TikTok. Users posting their reaction to the song or dancing along have gained thousands, if not millions, of views.
With one British TikTok user, Matas Kardokas, posting a video about listening to the tune while in a coffee shop gaining more than 400,000 likes.
The propaganda anthem is set to a catchy synth-pop backing track and includes lyrics such as ‘Let’s sing Kim Jong Un, the great leader’ and ‘Let’s brag about Kim Jong Un, our friendly father.’
Kim Jong Un in the music video for the new propaganda song. The song titled ‘Friendly Father’ praises the country’s Communist dictator and has garnered a number of Gen Z fans on Tik Tok with one saying ‘wait, this slaps’ and another asking if it is available on Spotify
Kim Jong Un has joined the likes of pop sensations Taylor Swift and Harry Styles to have a song go viral on the social media site TikTok (stock image)
One British TikTok user, Matas Kardokas, posting a video about listening to the tune while in a coffee shop gaining more than 400,000 likes
The accompanying music video includes shots of a very smiley and happy Mr Kim surrounded by his adoring subjects with shots of North Koreans giving the thumbs including the nation’s famous news anchor- Ri Chun-Lee.
It is the type of pop music that gets stuck in your head, not dissimilar to chart-topping hits in the West with one Tik Tok users describing the song as ‘Abba-coded’ in reference to the Swedish band behind hits such as Waterloo.
According to a North Korean expert that is exactly the point of the song to become an earworm that might influence the way North Koreans view their Supreme Leader.
Speaking to BBC News, Alexandra Leonzini, a Cambridge University scholar who researches North Korean music, explained that in a country where the state owns the music industry – music becomes another tool of propaganda for the hermit kingdom.
She said: ‘All artistic output in North Korea must serve the class education of citizens and more specifically educate them as to why they should feel a sense of gratitude, a sense of loyalty to the party.’
Ms Leonzini explained that the North Korean regime uses the ‘seed theory’ where every single work of art, from movies to songwriting, must contain a message or ideological seed that be dispersed to the wider population.
Reading between the lyrics, the two minute long song appears to be part of a new propaganda drive to shore up support for Mr Kim. While it is not the first song about him the language used to describe the dictator has noticeable changed.
Titles for Mr Kim used in this latest track, released last month, refer to him as ‘father’ and ‘the Great’ – titles which were previously only used to describe his grandfather Kim Il Sung.
Titles for Mr Kim used in this latest track, released last month, refer to him as ‘father’ and ‘the Great’ – titles which were previously only used to describe his grandfather Kim Il Sung
The accompanying music video includes shots of a very smiley and happy Mr Kim surrounded by his adoring subjects with shots of North Koreans giving the thumbs including the nation’s famous news anchor- Ri Chun-Lee
Speaking to BBC News , Alexandra Leonzini, a Cambridge University scholar who researches North Korean music, explained that in a country where the state owns the music industry – music becomes another tool of propaganda for the hermit kingdom
He was the first leader of North Korea and is now venerated as a god-like figure with portraits of the former leader in every home and workplace.
The use of these new titles can be interpreted as a means of Mr Kim bolstering his own image in the country as he becomes increasingly hostile to other nations.
Outside of North Korea, the country has also allegedly been using TikTok to bolster its own image abroad. A page on the site called northkorealife features a compilation of 19 videos of North Koreans walking to work, playing games on mobile phones and driving cars from brands including Audi, Hyundai and Mercedes.
It is unclear who runs or owns the account, which has over 4m views, but many believe it was used as a propaganda tool by the North Korean government.
Each post contains a caption portraying the joys of living in the Asian country.
Panoramic shots of the capital city and the surrounding countryside are tagged with statement such as ‘busy street in North Korea’, ‘Pyongyang has the best nightlife’ and ‘driving through the North Korean countryside’, followed by love-heart eyed emoji.
Meanwhile, in the United States, the app could soon be banned. A bill passed in the US Congress forces TikTok’s Chinese parent company – ByteDance – to sell the app to a US company by next year or face being banned in the country.
