North Korea’s tyrant leader Kim Jong-un has been strangely praised in the country’s latest propaganda-filled pop song, as experts warned the video hides a sinister message.
Titled Friendly Father, the song praises the dictator by calling him “kind-hearted like your mother” and “benevolent like your father,” while video clips show him acting like a father to his brainwashed citizens.
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From the introduction, the song begins to praise the Supreme Leader of North Korea and directly compares him to him as part of everyone’s families.
It begins by saying: “Let’s sing about Kim Jong Un, our great leader.
“Let’s brag about Kim Jong Un, our friendly father.”
The idea of Kim being this father figure to the people of North Korea has been an image of him and his parliament we have tried to evoke in recent years.
Kim is commonly referred to as the “Great Successor” after replacing his father Kim Jong Il in 2012.
But experts now believe he is seeking a more familiar title like the one his grandfather had.
North Korea’s first leader, Kim Il Sung, was given two nicknames: “father” and “the Great.”
In recent times, there has been a big change in the language and vocabulary used to describe the current kingpin.
As seen with the new song, North Korea is pushing the idea that Kim is a father to those he rules.
The accompanying music video, supposedly made with the help of Kim and his team, is even more selfish and obvious about the regime’s hopes.
He functions functions a variety of clips of the tyrant looking like a father figure, as the lyrics describe him as exactly that.
On one occasion, he even holds a little girl in his arms, laughs, and kisses her on the cheek.
A second shot shows Kim being chased by a group of young women who jump on him.
Alexandra Leonzini, an academic at the University of Cambridge who researches North Korean music, believes this new idealistic vision of the Supreme Leader could indicate a change taking place in the country.
She says: “Songs are used to telegraph the direction the state is going… to mark important moments and important developments in politics.
“A song is almost like a newspaper in North Korea.”
Worryingly, North Korea has escalated its threats to “wipe out” its enemies, including the United States and primarily South Korea.
Kim called the South the “main enemy” and threatened all-out nuclear war over “even 0.001 mm” of territorial invasion.
Kim’s sister, Kim Yo-Jong, vowed to unleash an “immediate military strike” against South Korea at the “slightest provocation.”
The dictator’s close ally said North Korea would not hesitate to attack its “enemy” as tensions flare on the border.
By reinforcing his loving personality, many feel it could be an opportunity for Kim to get his way while his loyal people follow him relentlessly.
This idea of a united nation is supported by another line that states that citizens under his iron-fisted rule “we all trust him and follow him with all our hearts.”
Leonzini agreed, saying that the idea behind the song is to “motivate and fight for a common goal for the benefit of the nation.”
Throughout the two-minute music video, the full range of North Korean residents is shown, from nurses to drivers, to the young and old.
This seemingly shows the country following suit, as in almost every clip, Kim and those she meets have beaming smiles.
KILLERS OF CREATIVITY
North Korea has a strict rule against allowing people to be creative, defectors have claimed.
The state often uses songs, art and films as propaganda pieces to allow ideological views to be secretly spread throughout the country.
Leonzini said: “All artistic production in North Korea must serve the class education of citizens and, more specifically, educate them on why they should feel gratitude, a sense of loyalty to the party.”
Keith Howard, emeritus professor of musicology at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, said songs like Friendly Father are used to instill certain things in the minds of listeners.
A trick that some say North Korea has been using for decades after they banned almost all outside media from entering the country.
Which means the 26 million residents can only see or hear things accepted by the government.
Howard said: “When the song enters the body, it becomes part of the person.
“So they know the lyrics very well, even if they’re just doing the actions, even if they’re just listening to it.
“A good ideological song does that: it needs to embed the message.”
TIKTOK SUCCESS
The relatively catchy new bop has even become a hit on TikTok and drawn quirky comparisons to Swedish superband Abba despite the Korean lyrics and upbeat tone.
It has become the background music for videos that have millions of views and have even seen thousands of American and European audiences tune in to listen to it.
One viewer commented on the viral music video: “This is incredibly creepy – North Korean propaganda is in a category of its own.”
While another was tricked into dancing to the song before realizing what the lyrics actually said.
They wrote: “I heard this without paying attention to the title, but I started smiling and shaking my head slightly and had to yell at myself to stop.”
A third simple sentence: “I am absolutely convinced that Kim Jong Un has the biggest ego in the galaxy.”
North Korea is known for spreading propaganda within its country to keep everyone aligned with its leader’s views.
Earlier this year, his hellish regime was exposed when two teenage students were sent to the gulag for watching banned television.
They face 12 years behind bars with hard labor for watching K-drama after being handcuffed and publicly shamed in a stadium full of students.
Reports suggest that the clip, which was filmed, has been used across North Korea to educate younger citizens and scare them from watching “decadent footage.”
The video that has been shared across the country is known to feature a narrator repeating chilling state propaganda.
A voice says: “The culture of the rotten puppet regime has spread even to teenagers.
“They are only 16 years old, but they ruined their own future.”
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