North Koreans continue to sing propaganda songs praising the late leader Kim Jong Il, despite an order by authorities to change the lyrics. The old lyrics, to which people have grown accustomed, are still sung at study groups and other gatherings.
The propaganda song “Let’s Love Our Motherland” was released in 1995 and originally contained the chorus “Let’s love our motherland, the bosom of General Kim Jong Il.”
North Korea re-released the song in 2021, changing the line “the bosom of General Kim Jong Il” to “the boundlessly beneficial bosom.”
As late as 2020, Korea Central TV and other North Korean media played the song with the old lyrics, but beginning in 2021, the song was performed with the new lyrics on broadcast media and at major commemorative events. The song with the new lyrics was performed at the completion ceremony of Chonwi Street in Pyongyang’s Sopo district in May.
North Korea has sought to erase the legacy of Kim Jong Un’s predecessors in order to promote the idolization of the current leader.
As part of this effort, North Korea has removed the “Juche” dating convention, which began in 1912, the year of late North Korean founder Kim Il Sung’s birth, from the Rodong Sinmun newspaper; replaced the April 15 “Year of the Sun” holiday, which celebrates Kim Il Sung’s birthday; and produced and distributed portrait pins exclusively featuring the face of current leader Kim Jong Un.
The editing of propaganda song lyrics praising Kim Jong Il can be seen in this light.
North Koreans are quite familiar with the song “Let’s Love Our Motherland,” as it is frequently sung at events, study groups, singing groups, and parades. For this reason, they still sing the song with the old lyrics, even though broadcasters keep playing it with the edited lyrics.
“Not only older people in their 50s and 60s, but also young people sing the song with the old lyrics,” a source in North Hamgyong province told Daily NK recently. “Even when organizations such as the Socialist Patriotic Youth League hold parade training or singing marches, they often sing the line, ‘Let’s love our motherland, the bosom of General Kim Jong Il.’”
No one gets in trouble for singing the old lyrics, but things sometimes get a bit messy when the flow of the song is broken in the middle, she said.
“It’s not easy to change the lyrics of a song that’s already stuck in your head,” she continued. “The state keeps trying to get people to sing the new lyrics, but most people still sing the lyrics praising General Kim Jong Il.”
Daily NK works with a network of sources in North Korea, China, and elsewhere. For security reasons, their identities remain anonymous.
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