Two New Songs Hail Virtue of North Korea’s Kim Jong Un

SEOUL-North Korea’s propaganda machine has moved swiftly to inspire loyalty toward new leader Kim Jong Un by officially approving two new songs to be sung in factories and other venues. One song, “Footstep,”si a tribute to Kim Jong Un. The other is titled, “We Will Defend Feneral Kim Jong Un at the Risk of Our Lives.” The state-run Korean Central News Agency said Sunday that the songs were performed at a concert in Pyongyang attended by Kim Jong Un. Kim Jong Un’s father, the late Kim Jong II, also promoted “music politics” as a means to unite society and inculcate loyalty.

KCNA said Kim Jong Un also attended a new year’s concert with senior officials. Accounts to musical events constitute about half of all KCNA’s reports this year on Kim Jong Un’s activities. All songs in North Korea must be approved by the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea. Implicit in the lyrics is the message that the authorities want to get across, said Kim Seong-min, director of Free North Korea Radio, which is operated by North Korean defectors living in South Korea. A researcher in South Korea who defected from North Korea said songs serve as a major pillar to shore up the regime by urging people to unite. “When the government distributes new songs, everybody sings them together at workplaces to the accompaniment of propaganda officers’ accordions,” the researcher said. “They are easily memorized because people sing them repeatedly.” According to a source familiar with Japan-North Korea relations, Kim Jong Il was so fond of music that he once declared, “My first love was with music.” He viewed music as, a vital propaganda tool.