A catchy propaganda song praising North Korea's authoritarian leader is enchanting TikTok and being compared to ABBA, reports say

Kim Jong Un, supreme leader of North Korea, pictured in Pyongyang in 2020.

API | Getty Images

• Kim Jong Un's latest propaganda song, "Friendly Father," is trending on TikTok.
• The song is part of North Korea's strategy to embed ideological messages in catchy pop tunes.
• TikTok, a Chinese-owned platform, could soon be banned by the US.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un dropped his latest propaganda song a fortnight ago, and the synth-pop track is seemingly winning over TikTokers, BBC News reported.

With its upbeat tempo and catchy melody, "Friendly Father" is reminiscent of an ABBA track — but with a Soviet-sounding twist.

While experts say the song is a calculated attempt to feed state propaganda to the masses, TikTokers are just enjoying the tune. Posts about the song have garnered millions of likes.

"On Spotify when," one user wrote.

"This song is like the end of a movie where the whole town gathers together and sings in unity while spinning in a circle," says another of the upbeat video.

North Korean Central Television has released a music video for the song "Friendly Father" praising Kim Jong Un

The song has already become a new hit in North Korea and a meme in the West. pic.twitter.com/9xS8XhjRwn

— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) April 25, 2024

But such catchy tunes are purposefully designed to be accessible and simple to sing, making them easy to repeat and ensuring their ideological messages can be spread to the masses.

"The idea is they want to motivate, to strive towards a common goal for the benefit of the nation. They don't tend to produce songs like ballads," Alexandra Leonzini, a University of Cambridge scholar who researches North Korean music, told BBC News.

"All artistic output in North Korea must serve the class education of citizens and more specifically educate them as to why they should feel a sense of gratitude, a sense of loyalty to the party," she added.

It seems that the state's latest song has a particular aim of boosting the profile of Kim Jong Un, presenting him as more of a "father figure" like his grandfather, Kim Il Sung, and his father, Kim Jong Il.

It is an attempt to "elevate his status and stature" to their level, as he has previously had to rely on their reputations to "indicate his legitimacy to be the successor," Peter Moody, a North Korea analyst at Sungkyunkwan University, told The Telegraph.

"The song has ABBA written all over it. It's upbeat, it could not be more catchy, and a rich set of orchestral-sounding sequences could not be more prominent," Moody told BBC News.

It comes as Chinese-owned short-video platform TikTok faces a ban in the US over data security concerns.

Last month, the US Senate passed a bill that could see TikTok banned in the US unless its parent company, ByteDance, divests itself of the business over the next nine months to a year.

Reuters reported in April that ByteDance would rather close down TikTok in the US than sell it if legal means to fight the proposed ban fail.

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