The South Hwanghae provincial party committee has made weekly “song dissemination” sessions mandatory at all workplaces, leaving many North Koreans frustrated as they’re forced to sing propaganda songs amid difficult living conditions.
According to a Daily NK source, the provincial party committee issued an order on Feb. 15 requiring all workplaces to conduct these weekly sessions. Employees must now participate in group singing before their mandatory reading and study sessions.
“These song sessions used to happen only when a new song appeared in the Rodong Sinmun or when the party specifically ordered certain songs to be sung. Now we have to sing together once a week at work,” the source explained.
Party cell secretaries at each workplace select the songs, with options ranging from revolutionary music dating back to the anti-Japanese struggle era to the latest propaganda tunes.
“All music in North Korea serves regime propaganda, so it doesn’t really matter who picks the songs,” the source noted. “But having the party cell secretary make the selections is considered ‘party policy’ – a rule that can’t be broken.”
The provincial authorities have made clear that these sessions aim to instill loyalty to the party, leader, and revolutionary spirit by having citizens memorize the lyrics. Workplaces are required to organize regular question-and-answer sessions about the songs, forcing employees to rehearse repeatedly until they’ve memorized all the words.
However, the initiative has been met with widespread discontent. Many citizens openly question whether “things will improve just because they sing.”
North Korea has long used music as a key tool for promoting official ideology and regime cohesion. Since founder Kim Il Sung’s era, songs have been used to cultivate public loyalty under the slogan “Where there’s a revolution, there are songs” – a practice that continued through Kim Jong Il’s and Kim Jong Un’s leadership.
Yet as economic conditions worsen and people struggle to feed their families, these propaganda songs have lost their effectiveness.
“Songs might have worked for ideological control in the past, but now, as people face harsher realities, they ignore them no matter how much they’re forced to sing,” the source said. “Plus, with more outside information getting in, people are less influenced by propaganda.”
“People openly say that singing songs won’t make rice appear or improve their lives when they can barely make ends meet,” the source added. “Ultimately, this coercive approach of forcing people to memorize and sing songs will only increase public distrust of the regime.”
March 11, 2025 at 12:39PM
by DailyNK(North Korean Media)