A song that praises North Korean Dictator Kim Jong Un has gone viral on TikTok.
“Let’s sing Kim Jong Unthe great leader,” says the song titled “Friendly Father,” according to BBC News. “Let’s brag about Kim Jong Un, our friendly father.”
“Is this a single or where can I get the whole album,” one TikToker joked. Another said: “This is so dystopian in the most eye-catching way.”
“I don’t really like Kim Jong Un but he was really cooking on this song,” said another.
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North Korea’s new song about Kim Jong Un, “Friendly Father,” has gone viral on TikTok. (API/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)
South Korean pop, or K-pop, and Western music are banned in North Korea, and some defectors have cited illegal listening to foreign music as a factor in their decision to defect.
“When you listen to North Korean music, you don’t feel any emotion,” North Korean defector Ryu Hee-Jin told the Washington Post in 2019. “But when you listen to American or South Korean music, It literally gives you chills. The lyrics are so fresh, so understandable. When children listen to this music, their facial expressions change.
Of “Friendly Father,” Peter Moody, a North Korea expert at Korea University, told BBC News: “The song to Abba written everywhere. It’s upbeat, it couldn’t be catchier, and a rich set of orchestral-sounding sequences couldn’t be more important. »
Some North Korean defectors said listening to K-pop music like the group BTS helped them decide to defect. (Han Myung-Gu/WireImage)
Alexandra Leonzini, of Cambridge University, told the outlet that North Korean authorities may have sought to create an “earworm” song with simple, easy-to-sing lyrics.
“Any artistic production in North Korea must serve the class education of citizens and especially educate them on why they should feel a sense of gratitude and loyalty to the party,” she said.
The defectors said the government broadcast propaganda songs every morning throughout the country, citizens learned choreographed dances to these songs, and the lyrics were printed in newspapers. (KCNA via REUTERS)
The defectors said the government broadcast propaganda songs every morning throughout the country, citizens learned choreographed dances to these songs, and the lyrics were printed in newspapers.
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“The moment the song is sort of absorbed into the body, it becomes part of the person,” said Keith Howard, a professor at the London School of African and Oriental Studies. “So they know the lyrics so well, even if they just do the actions, even if they just listen to them. A good ideological song does that. It has to incorporate the message.”
