All-female music group Moranbong Band is not your typical “girl band.”
Composed of about two dozen female musicians playing a variety of instruments, the band has set itself apart from the typical South Korean girl group. Each Moranbong member also holds a high rank in the military and would sometimes perform in uniforms, wearing their military insignia.
At times, the group would wear mildly provocative outfits such as short skirts and tight clothes that almost challenges South Korea’s own “Girl’s Generation.” The girls however, have remained on the safe side, avoiding clothes too “racy” for Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un’s tastes.
Handpicked in 2012 by the Supreme Leader himself, the girls of Moranbong have a unique task of infusing the totalitarian regime’s message with a toned down South Korean pop style.
With local hit songs “Let’s Support Our Supreme Commander With Arms”, “My Country is the Best!” and “Do Prosper, Era of the Workers’ Party,” the group definitely has attached itself to its own very distinct genre.
The lyrics, sanctioned by the communist dictatorship, promote the message of Kim Jong Un’s greatness and the occasional musings of popular North Korean themes such as the evil’s of Western capitalism, among others. The unique sound is even complemented by the band’s heavy use of synthesizers and ‘80s guitar riffs.
To explain it more vaguely, North Korea’s state-run news agency Korea Central News Agency, described how the group came about:
“Kim Jong Un organized the Moranbong band as required by the new century, prompted by a grandiose plan to bring about a dramatic turn in the field of literature and arts this year in which a new century of Juche Korea begins.”
