North Korea’s new music video for a propaganda song recently made to praise Chairman Kim Jong-un was allegedly produced using expensive Japanese musical instruments.
In the ‘Friendly Parent’ video, a member is seen using a Japanese synthesizer./Chosun Central TV
On the 30th, Radio Free Asia (RFA) referred to an article posted on American social media platform Reddit, saying that synthesizers from Japanese musical instrument makers Korg and Roland were used in the music video for North Korea’s propaganda song ‘Friendly’ Parent’. reported. Additionally, the singers featured in the music video were wearing headphones believed to be from Japanese Sony. Korg and Roland synthesizers are expensive products sold for millions won in online shopping malls. Sony headphones also cost hundreds of thousands of won. The United Nations Security Council bans the export of luxury goods to North Korea in accordance with Resolution 1718 on sanctions against North Korea, which was adopted in response to North Korea’s first nuclear test in 2006. However, by using these expensive items to produce music videos, North Korea uses them as a means of controlling the core security forces of the Kim Jong-un regime and maintaining the regime.
North Korea released the ‘Friendly Parent’ music video for the first time on the 17th, using such expensive audio equipment. This music video was broadcast on Korean Central Television when it reported that Chairman Kim attended the completion ceremony of the second phase of the residence in Pyongyang’s Hwaseong District. The music video depicts Kim Jong-un as a ‘great leader’ and ‘friendly parent’ and shows his daughter Joo-ae several times, emphasizing that the people unanimously trust the Kim family. Unlike the grammar of current North Korean music videos, the fast-beating music and quick screen transitions show an attempt to follow recent trends. At the same time, announcers from Chosun Central TV, including Ri Chun-hi, also appeared, making the show feel familiar to North Korea’s older generation.
A character wearing Japanese headphones in the North Korean music video ‘Friendly Parent’. / Select central TV
The lead singer featured in the music video is known to be new singer Kim Ryu-kyung. Kim Ryu-kyung is a new singer who appeared at the commemoration event ‘Victory Day’ (the day the Armistice Agreement was signed) as it is called, held in front of the Victory at the Father’s Liberation War Monument in Pyongyang on July 27, 2022, and also performed at the 2023 New Year celebration performance attended by Kim Jong-un of the North Korean regime The use of expensive Japanese sound equipment in music videos is believed to be propaganda because the propaganda is aimed at the ‘Jangmajang generation’, which their music tastes have become more sophisticated through exposure to K-pop.
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