Last week I noted that there was a boom in North Korean propaganda videos threatening the U.S. The North Koreans haven’t let up since then. Their latest clip includes soldiers firing at a target depicting a U.S. soldier.
No translation has been added to the clip so I can’t tell what anyone is saying, but you really don’t need to know to appreciate the low-rent Triumph of the Will quality of this. There’s the strength of youth whose sole purpose is the state. Soldiers shooting rifles, pistols and even bows–all of it set to Wagner-esque music. One of the female soldiers is actually very pretty or would be outside of the context of Kim Jong Un’s communist daydream.
North Korea also put out two new clips (here and here) highlighting the latest in communist propaganda art. Stylistically they’re perfect knock-offs of the old Soviet style, right down to the color choices.
There’s more. This clip posted four days ago includes a military trainer barking “It is likely they [meaning us] have not had a correct understanding of the strength of the DPRK that boasts of millions of human bombs.” It goes on to offer more man-on-the-street statements promising complete obedience to Kim Jong Un should he decided to start the “reunification” of Korea, i.e. the invasion of the south.
What’s most striking about this effort is how absent the dear leader is from all the images. He is frequently mentioned, his honor will be defended at all costs, but he never shows up. This video posted 3 days ago contains a few stills of Kim looking at a map, his double chin suggesting military rigor is not part of his life, but that’s it. Unlike Hitler or Stalin, he never arrives for his close-up or poses for the poster. He doesn’t deliver a speech before adoring masses lit only by torchlight. North Korea is a cult of personality minus the personality.
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