North Korea’s leading art universities ordered graduating students in early June 2026 to create works glorifying the heroism and sacrifice of troops deployed to Russia to fight in its war against Ukraine, with many students calling the politically charged assignment a heavy burden, according to sources inside the country.
According to a source who spoke to Daily NK on Tuesday, the Pyongyang Kim Won Gyun University of Music and Dance and the Pyongyang University of Dramatic and Cinematic Arts assigned graduating classes early this month to create works highlighting the sacrifice of soldiers who fought in the Russia-Ukraine war and portraying them as heroes. The Kim Won Gyun school, named after the composer who wrote North Korea’s national anthem and other revolutionary songs, trains musicians, dancers and other performers bound for state-run art troupes, while the drama and film university is the country’s primary training ground for actors and filmmakers.
The assignment has stirred particular unease among graduating students at the Kim Won Gyun university.
The source said vocal majors had previously prepared a designated song and a freely chosen piece, typically a number from a revolutionary opera paired with a piece suited to their specialty, while instrumental majors in Western or traditional Korean music prepared a foreign piece and a freely chosen piece. This year, however, students were told to compose an original ensemble work themselves rather than perform individually.
Producing an ensemble piece requires far more than preparing music, the source said, since students must take full responsibility for composition, arrangement, group performance and even stage direction. Many graduating students were visibly flustered by the assignment, the source added, with some turning red in the face as they struggled with how demanding the task felt.
Graduating students at the Pyongyang University of Dramatic and Cinematic Arts were also caught off guard by the assignment, but they are said to be handling it more calmly than their counterparts in music and dance. The source attributed this to the drama and film university’s in-house production unit, which gives students regular experience with collective, state-directed work on political themes, leaving them less anxious than music students about producing an entire ensemble piece on a politically charged subject.
Troops deployed to Russia as a loyalty test
North Korean authorities have cast soldiers who fought in the Russia-Ukraine war as revolutionaries who shed blood on the front lines of what state propaganda calls “anti-imperialist self-reliance,” a slogan rooted in the country’s Juche ideology of political and military independence from outside powers. Their service is being used as a propaganda tool to help cement the North Korea-Russia alliance.
Set against that backdrop, the directive requiring students to create works centered on the soldiers’ sacrifice, devotion and loyalty suggests authorities are not simply evaluating academic skill. The assignment appears designed to vet and shape the political loyalty of young people entering the arts field, a sector the regime has long used to spread its ideology.
The source said graduating students view how faithfully they complete the assignment as a key factor that could affect their job placement after graduation. Worried that a misstep could bring penalties, students are racking their brains to finish the project amid a tense atmosphere, the source said.
Reporting from inside North Korea
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June 18, 2026 at 07:42PM
by DailyNK(North Korean Media)