North Korea’s Latest TikTok Sensation

Kim Jong-un on TikTok (KCTV)

In an unexpected twist, North Korea’s latest propaganda song, “Friendly Father,” has taken the TikTok world by storm. The upbeat melody with a Soviet-sounding twist has garnered praise from Gen Z users on the social media platform. However, beneath its upbeat melody lies a more sinister message. The popularity of this propaganda song highlights the power of music and social media in shaping global perceptions. This appears to be an ongoing tactic deployed by North Korea both inside and outside the country. For instance, it is reported that the former North Korean Youtuber, Song A, who posted videos of her life in Pyongyang back in January 2022 before her channel was shut down by Google for promoting the North Korean regime in June 2023, has recently reappeared in the media as a promising first-year student at Pyongyang Missionary Elementary Middle School and winner of a national foreign language conversation contest, with more content expected to be released.

THE RISE OF “FRIENDLY FATHER” AND ITS HIDDEN MESSAGE

North Korean music is not created for the sake of art or entertainment, but must follow the “seed theory,” which implies that a piece of artwork must contain an ideological seed that is disseminated to the masses as art, in other words, as propaganda. “Friendly Father” is no exception. Released in April, “Friendly Father” describes the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, as “warm-hearted” and “friendly.” The lyrics encourage singing praises to Kim, referring him as “the great leader” and “our friendly father” who holds “a million children in his arms and takes care of us with all of his heart.” TikTok users flooded the platform with reactions. Some found the song “dystopian in the catchiest way possible,” while others likened it to the climactic scene in a movie where the whole town gathers to sing in unity while spinning in a circle. Isolated users have even created dance moves and crafted piano versions of the song, joking that this is “real K-pop.” Despite the music video’s apparent ideological intent, commentators expressed their hope for “Friendly Father” to land on Spotify, as the tune gives them “anime vibes.”

Ironically, Kim Jong-un, the same leader praised in the song, has vowed to “thoroughly annihilate the US” and has launched dozens of ballistic missiles this year alone. Considering the juxtaposition of “Friendly Father’s” innocent tune and its alarming intentions, North Korea’s propaganda machine challenges us to consider the impact of seemingly harmless pop songs. In particular, as North Korean analyst, Peter Moody, described, “North Korean songs have gone viral before, but usually, it’s been to mock them. But this is one of the first, if not the only, times I’ve heard about a North Korean song going viral with people in different parts of the world expressing appreciation for it, musically.” As TikTok users dance to its beat, they unwittingly become part of a global conversation – one that blurs the lines between entertainment and political messaging.

SOUTH KOREA SHUTS IT DOWN

However, not everyone is grooving to “Friendly Father.” South Korea swiftly banned videos featuring the song, citing violations of the National Security Act that blocks access to the North’s government websites and media, as well as penalizes behaviors and speeches in favor of the regime. According to Seoul’s Korea Communications Standards Commission, 29 versions of the music video will be blocked, as requested by the country’s National Intelligence Service to restrict exposure of the efforts by Kim’s regime to glorify its leader. Violations of the National Security Act can lead to up to seven years’ imprisonment, though enforcement of the law has eased recently.

In response, the ban has attracted the interest of many South Koreans, who left comments on the video asking the authorities to leave it accessible “so that more people can enjoy the joke.” Some TikTok users even said that they listened to the song while working out at the gym or doing homework, while others praised how its nostalgic tune reminded them of older Spanish and French pop music. The captivating tune’s glorification of Kim Jong-un undeniably clashes with the tense relations between the two Koreas. Despite the ban, the song continues to resonate beyond borders, sparking discussions about the intersection of music and politics.

Who is Kim Yo Jong?

Kim Jong Un is rumored to be in a coma and speculation swirls again about his younger sister, Kim Yo Jong, temporarily shifting to a ruling position for North Korea.

Kim Yo Jong is Kim Jong Il’s youngest child

Kim Jong Un is the youngest of three sons to Kim Jong Il. The eldest son, Kim Jong Nam, was assassinated in 2017 and middle son Kim Jong Chol was rejected as heir to rule North Korea, rumored to be due to his effeminate personality.

Kim Jong Un also has two sisters: older sister Kim Sul Song, born in 1974, and younger sister Kim Yo Jong, born in 1989. Kim Sul Song was thought to be Kim Jong Il’s favorite child and was the likeliest, at one point, to take control in Kim Jong Un’s absence. But Sul Song’s name has not been seen much in recent years. Yo Jong may have also found favor in her father’s eyes according to the first hand accounts of former Kim family sushi chef who goes by pen name Kenji Fujimoto. Per Fujimoto, Kim Jong Il often referred to Yo Jong as "Princess Yo Jong"

Kim Yo Jong’s rise to power

Kim Yo Jong was appointed as Vice-Director of the Propaganda and Agitation Department (PAD) in 2014 where she was responsible for crafting her brother's public image and messages. In 2017, a year before she stepped into the international spotlight, Kim Yo Jong also joined the North’s Politburo, officially called the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the WPK, as an alternate member.

Her public debut came during the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, when Kim Yo Jong served as a special envoy between the divided Koreas and met with the South Korean president, Moon Jae-in. An envoy’s role is similar to an ambassador, often tasked with resolving conflict between nations but Kim Yo Jong has been very vocal of her disdain for the South. Kim Yo Jong recently publicly threatened to destroy an inter-Korean liaison office in Kaesong, North Korea. The building was obliterated a few days later.

Kim Yo Jong (far right) at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

Kim Yo Jong today

Kim Yo Jong is 32 years old and currently serves as the First Vice Director of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK). Kim Jong Un is the Chairman of the WPK and the Central Committee is the main policymaking body of the WPK. If Kim Jong Un is indeed incapacitated, she is assumed to be the most likely temporary successor until one of Kim Jong Un’s sons are old enough to rule North Korea. Because North Korean leadership is fundamentally patriarchal, Kim Yo Jong’s rule would not be permanent.

North Korea under Kim Yo Jong

Since Kim Yo Jong’s role would not be permanent, she would most likely uphold the agenda and work of her brother, Kim Jong Un and, if her brother dies, would carry the core ideologies of the regime into the next generation until Kim Jong Un’s successor can take leadership. This is the best case scenario for North Korea. What remains unclear is a potential power struggle between Kim Jong Un’s heirs and his sister. There simply isn’t enough information to know which way this will go.

Kim Yo Jong followed her brother’s steps of foreign education and is thought to have shared an apartment with Kim Jong Un in Switzerland. There are speculations that they were very close and thus, her approach to ruling North Korea may be similar to her big brother.

It is not unlikely that Yo Jong will push beyond her brother’s dictatorial ways. Lee Seong-hyon, an analyst at the Sejong Institute, a research center in South Korea said  “As she leads the offense against South Korea like a general, it silences those old hard-liners in the Politburo who may think she cannot be the leader.” We believe she may overcompensate in the North patriarchal system by ruling with even more vitriol.

(The New York Post recently wrote something similar about a future under Kim Yo Jong here )

North Korean defectors
In a public statement issued on June 4, 2020, Kim Yo Jong portrayed North Korean defectors as, “Human scum little short of wild animals who betrayed their own homeland,” and described their campaigns against North Korea as “acts to imitate men” “bark[ing]... where they should not.” Defecting from North Korea is an act of treason and punishable by hard labor, torture and oftentimes death. Kim Yo Jong’s public statement is no surprise and should she take control of North Korea, we expect the same severity of punishment to continue for defectors who are caught and returned to the North.

Prayer for North Korea and North Korean Refugees: Peace

This week’s prayer topic is simple: Please pray for peace for North Korean refugees and North Korea's people. However, as we pray for peace for North Korea and its people, we understand that the nation is always on the brink of violence. Though war seems unlikely, it is unclear how far North Korea’s new, unseasoned leader may escalate tensions and fear.

In our many conversations with North Korean refugees along the border, defectors in South Korea and South Koreans, nobody wants war – not one person. Nobody thinks it would be good for the Korean people. We pray for peace through God's protection and provision.

In the face of anxiety for the things we cannot control, for the things that are out of our power, we at Crossing Borders ask that you would help us to place North Korean refugees and the people of North Korea into the hands of the Lord.

“O Almighty God, the Father of all humanity, turn, we pray, the hearts of all peoples and their rulers, that by the power of your Holy Spirit peace may be established among the nations on the foundation of justice, righteousness and truth; through him who was lifted up on the cross to draw all people to himself, your Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.” – William Temple, “Prayer for Peace Among Nations”

“O Christ Jesus, when all is darkness and we feel our weakness and helplessness, give us the sense of Your presence, Your love, and Your strength. Help us to have perfect trust in Your protecting love and strengthening power, so that nothing may frighten or worry us, for, living close to You, we shall see Your hand, Your purpose, Your will through all things.” - Saint Ignatius of Loyola

Five Topics to Pray for North Korea

North Korea is a chaotic and confusing nation. Their government tests nuclear weapons while their people suffer from starvation. They speak of peace and unity one day and war the next. Listed below are items we feel need your prayer:

1. Pray for the people in North Korea – If you’ve read the Bible, it is clear that God has a soft spot for the poor, the widow and the orphan. North Korea is filled with such individuals. There are no signs that the food situation in the country is moving toward any form of stability, and eyewitnesses invited into the country have confirmed this. This is causing instability in families, disease and suffering. The poor, the widow, and the orphan desperately need our prayers.

2. Pray for North Korean refugees – North Korea can be enigmatic because of the lack of good reporting in the country. The regime controls most media outlets in the country and the ones it doesn't control are not allowed full access to all parts of the country. The best information coming from North Korea is through North Korean refugees who travel beyond the country's borders to find hope in a new and terrifying capitalist world. These refugees, many of them homeless, hungry, impoverished, seek a life free from the North Korean regime. Please pray for these North Korean refugees. Please pray especially those in China, North Korean refugees who are scared and in hiding due to China’s zero tolerance policy toward escapees from North Korea.

3. Pray for North Korean politicians – North Korea is a political problem for world leaders, most of who are afraid of a nuclear North Korea and rightfully so. But this can often divert the world’s attention away from the suffering people of North Korea. For things to change in the world on a global scale, there must be a political response. Pray that our politicians would not lose focus on the pain of the North Korean people.

4. Pray for North Korea’s leadership – Some say it is a waste of time to pray for North Korea’s leadership who are often seen as power-hungry hedonists who would crush a whole nation to remain in power. The worst thing we can do is to turn this group of people into caricatures. Jesus was clear when he commanded us to “pray for our enemies.” This accomplishes two things: 1. If they are in the wrong, prayer can change their hearts and 2. prayers for our enemies instantly humanizes them. These are fallen people just like us. They need our prayers.

5.  Pray for North Korea’s underground church – This is perhaps the most persecuted church in the world. No one is sure how large it is. No one can be sure what their activities are. But it has been confirmed by multiple sources that the underground church in North Korea exists. Not only do Christians fear the government’s heavy hand but they also fear their friends, family, neighbors and even their own children. North Korean children are taught to report their parents if they do anything the regime finds threatening. Christianity is at the top of this list. The only way for North Koreans to have true and lasting peace is through the gospel. They can have food. They can have freedom. But we believe the gospel is the only way for them to truly be transformed and to find healing.

Prayer for North Korean Refugees: The Poor, Hungry

North Korean refugees are escapees from a nation akin to the world's largest prison. This week, the New York Times reported that the poor are staying poor in North Korea, despite recent economic developments, and that it is becoming increasingly difficult for them to leave the country.

Think about this for a minute. Kim Jong Un is pampering his family friends while the rest of the country languishes in poverty. And to make things worse, he has closed the door to food and medical help that North Koreans sought as a last-ditch measure.

This means that there are less and less alternatives for most North Koreans to find food.

Many experts say that the economic and cultural shifts are only meant for the North Korean elite. They say that the increase in pop culture and luxury goods are gifts to the politically loyal to make them happy as the regime makes it’s third hereditary shift of power.

Economic reform in North Korea is only for the elite because the whole country is built for the elite.

This harkens back to the days of the Great Famine of the 1990s when Kim Jong Il would throw lavish parties catered by foreign chefs. He would fly in professional wrestlers to entertain him and his friends while about 2 million people died of starvation.

Many North Korean refugees we have helped witnessed this disparity first-hand. One family reported to us that a man in their village was so delirious from hunger that he pushed his child into a fire and ate her only to realize afterward what he had done. This happened around 2005, when the famine was supposedly over.

The New York Times article mentions that North Koreans are still being found dead along the roadside in the country. Starvation is still a present reality and commoners still have to forage to make ends meet.

As we pray this week for North Korean refugees and the for the North Korean people, let us not be discouraged. It can seem the regime is an immovable mountain, one that will oppress its people forever. But we have hope.

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” - Matthew 5:3

North Korean Refugees: Suggestions for Kim Jong Un

As an organization at work in aiding North Korean refugees who escape out of the Hermit Kingdom, Crossing Borders is careful to keep up-to-date on the news coming out of the country. Some of the information coming out of North Korea this year has been heartening. A shorter hemline signals a country that is beginning to change with the times. A first lady is making the regime seem more people-friendly. All of these things are great. Recently North Korean media released text of a speech Kim Jong Un made to the Workers’ Party on July 26, which called for reforms to the country’s economic system. In the speech, Kim stated that the party would focus on “developing the economy and improving livelihoods, so that the Korean people lead happy and civilized lives.” Even better.

But if nation would really like to show its strength, it must welcome North Korean refugees back into the country without the risk of punishment.

In spending time with North Korean refugees along the border and in South Korea, it is obvious to many of our field workers and staff that they miss their families back home. Because North Korea maintains a stranglehold on all forms of communication, it is very difficult for families to communicate and virtually impossible for them to see each other.

This is the agonizing decision that all North Korean refugees who fled their country have made. One family in this position comes to mind.

Our staff met the "Lee" family in a restaurant in Northeast China a few years ago. They were upstanding members of the Workers’ Party and, according to them, they had never starved because of their class standing and they had never committed a crime. This was until they couldn’t find food around 2007. The patriarch of this family of four had to make the tough choice to go into the illegal money transfer business.

Within months he was caught and had a few hours to decide what to do. He fled with his wife and his teenage daughter to China. His son, who was in elementary school, was left with relatives. They feared he would slow the family’s escape. When the family met with our staff for dinner, they could hardly focus on the meal as they told their story. All they could talk about was their son who was trapped in North Korea.

As a response, Crossing Borders helped send money into North Korea to get their son out of the country.

What do Kim Jong Un and the Democratic People's Republic leaders fear most about allowing North Korean refugees back into their country? Information. With an inflow of people who have seen the prosperity of the outside world, North Korea is afraid that their people might grumble for change and the ruling elite might lose power.

But change is already afoot. DVDs from the outside world are secret, but commonplace. People get news regularly from foreign news outlets beaming short wave radio signals into the country. Illegal cell phones connected to the Chinese networks are available to some through the black market.

What is North Korea trying to shield its people from? The cat is out of the bag.

For people to live in happiness they must be given the opportunity to see their families. New economic reforms will undoubtedly open the country up even more. There is no risk in slowly allowing North Korean refugees back to help rebuild the country that they love. This will help North Koreans live, as Kim Jong Un states, "happy and civilized lives."

Staff Notes: North Korean Refugees, Memories, Home

The following post was written by Crossing Borders volunteer staff: Years before I started volunteering with Crossing Borders to serve North Korean refugees and orphans, I remember going on a brief visit to Northeast China with my grandfather. We stopped at a North Korean restaurant staffed by beautiful young North Korean waitresses. The North Korean government owns several restaurants throughout Asia, which are fully staffed and managed by approved North Korean patriots under the employ of their government. My grandfather, a North Korean refugee, who was born in North Korea and still had siblings living there, asked the women about their lives and their families. I knew he took pity on their situations. Although they were living in relative freedom in China they were, essentially, still enslaved to the North Korean government, working long hours for little pay. Yet with frozen smiles and identical expressions, each professed their undying devotion to their homeland and their “Eternal Father” Kim Il Sung. They each wore a small red Kim Il Sung pin on their uniforms and spoke no ill of their leader.

A few years later, I found myself watching a documentary entitled State of Mind, which followed the lives of two young North Korean gymnasts as they prepared with single-minded devotion for "The Mass Games”, a performance held in honor of North Korea's leader. The gymnasts placed all their efforts and hopes into the chance that they might perform for Kim Jong Il. Their months of labor and practice resulted in a flawless performance. But on the day of the Games, the Supreme Commander failed to show. , The disappointment and pain in their eyes was evident.

Many of the North Korean refugees assisted by Crossing Borders long to return to their homes in North Korea. Though they have been informed that their leaders Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong Il and Kim Jong Un are not gods, that North Korea is not paradise on earth, their home still beckons them from a distance. Memories and shared histories are still too powerful to forget. This is perhaps why my own grandfather remains drawn to any news about his former home, why he continues to travel along the border between China and North Korea, hoping to catch glimpses of any North Koreans on the other side.

On one of our visits, while riding a tourist ferry along the Tumen River, we happened to see some North Korean children playing in the water. They were close enough that we could hear their laughter. My grandfather reached out his arms and wistfully remarked that he wished there was something he could give them. Only half-joking, he thought of throwing them small bags of rice or money. But soon our small tour boat turned around and we were headed back, moving further and further away from the shores of North Korea.