"Onwards Toward the Final Victory" () is a

North Korean propaganda Propaganda is widely used and produced by the government of North Korea (DPRK). Most propaganda is based on the ''Juche'' ideology and on the promotion of the Workers' Party of Korea. The first syllable of ''Juche'', "ju", means the man; th ...

hymn dedicated to the country's leader

Kim Jong-un Kim Jong-un (; , ; born 8 January 1982) is a North Korean politician who has been Supreme Leader of North Korea since 2011 and the leader of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) since 2012. He is a son of Kim Jong-il, who was North Korea's sec ...

. It continues the tradition of North Korean supreme leaders having hymns dedicated to them, as was the case with Kim's grandfather

Kim Il-sung Kim Il-sung (; , ; born Kim Song-ju, ; 15 April 1912 – 8 July 1994) was a North Korean politician and the founder of North Korea, which he ruled from the country's establishment in 1948 until his death in 1994. He held the posts of ...

Song of General Kim Il-sung The "Song of General Kim Il-sung" ( Korean: 김일성장군의 노래) is a North Korean marching song composed by Kim Won-gyun in 1946. As a part of an ongoing cult of personality, the song praising Kim Il-sung, North Korea's "Eternal Presiden ...

") and Kim's father

Kim Jong-il Kim Jong-il (; ; ; born Yuri Irsenovich Kim;, 16 February 1941 – 17 December 2011) was a North Korean politician who was the second supreme leader of North Korea from 1994 to 2011. He led North Korea from the 1994 death of his father Kim ...

Song of General Kim Jong-il The "Song of General Kim Jong-il" () is a marching song from North Korea. It was composed by Sol Myong-sun(설명순,1936-2012) and the words were written by Sin Un-ho(신운호,1941-March 24,2020) in 1997. The song praises the " Eternal Genera ...

", "

No Motherland Without You "No Motherland Without You" (or "Ode to Kim Jong Il"), is a North Korean song about the country's second supreme leader, Kim Jong Il. Composed by Hwang Jin Young and written by , it extols the proclaimed talent and virtues of Kim, and the North Ko ...

"). The hymn has been airing repeatedly in North Korean state media since July 2012. Its music is attributed to Yoon Du Geun, and its lyrics to Kim Moon Hyuk.

Text

The text consists of three short stanzas that emphasize the political unity ("By exploding the mental strength of the united heart of our million citizens"), military prowess ("As our undefeated army boasts winning a hundred battles") and economic strength of North Korea ("By raising the beacon of the new industrial revolution of the new century"). Each stanza ends by rallying the "great

Baekdu Mountain Paektu Mountain (), also known as Baekdu Mountain and in China as Changbai Mountain ( zh, s=长白山, t=長白山; Manchu: Golmin Šanggiyan Alin), is an active stratovolcano on the Chinese–North Korean border. At , it is the highest mo ...

Nation (...) onward to the final victory". According to John Delury of

Yonsei University Yonsei University (; ) is a private research university in Seoul, South Korea. As a member of the "SKY" universities, Yonsei University is deemed one of the three most prestigious institutions in the country. It is particularly respected in the ...

the final victory refers to

Korean reunification Korean reunification () is the potential reunification of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the Republic of Korea into a single Korean sovereign state. The process towards reunification was started by the June 15th North–South Joi ...

. The text is taken from a speech by Kim Jong-un given on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the birth of his grandfather and of the country's founding leader Kim Il-sung. As such, and unusually for hymns dedicated to North Korean leaders, Kim Jong-un's own name is not mentioned. The message of North Korea as a "powerful, prosperous nation" is emphasized, although unlike in earlier propaganda material the

DPRK North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...

is no longer referred to as a ''taeguk'' ("great country", "great power"), but as a ''gukga'' ("country").

Video

On North Korean state television, the hymn is aired accompanied by a video montage of 2 minutes 41 seconds in length. It combines scenes of North Korean mountains with footage of marching soldiers and citizens, military hardware (nuclear missiles on parade, ships and aircraft, artillery rockets and torpedoes being fired) and industrial machinery, occasionally overlaid with hand-drawn propaganda artwork in the traditional

Socialist Realist Socialist realism is a style of idealized realistic art that was developed in the Soviet Union and was the official style in that country between 1932 and 1988, as well as in other socialist countries after World War II. Socialist realism is ...

style.

Reception

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

''s music critic

Alexis Petridis Alexis Petridis ( el, Αλέξης Πετρίδης; born 13 September 1971) is a British journalist, head rock and pop critic for the UK newspaper ''The Guardian'', as well as a regular contributor to the magazine '' GQ''. In addition to his mus ...

favorably noted the "sheer ferocity" with which the military choir belts out the hymn, although he commented that the relentless martial beat becomes pretty wearying after a few minutes. Still, according to Petridis, "Onwards Toward the Final Victory" is at least not "boring as hell", unlike the country's other output of contemporary music by groups such as

Pochonbo Electronic Ensemble The Pochonbo Electronic Ensemble is an orchestra from North Korea. It is famous for its performances of revolutionary and folk songs. They have been reported to be one of the country's most popular groups.

, whose songs he compared to typical 1970s

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

entries. In North Korea itself, the song has been "enthusiastically received by the citizens", according to the North Korean state newspaper ''

Rodong Sinmun ''Rodong Sinmun'' (; ) is a North Korean newspaper that serves as the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea. It was first published on November 1, 1945, as ''Chŏngro'' (), serving as a communication channel ...

''. The government-run

Korean Central News Agency The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) is the state news agency of North Korea. The agency portrays the views of the North Korean government for both domestic and foreign consumption. It was established on December 5, 1946 and now features onlin ...

reported that "the song hardens the will of the Korean army and people to devote their all to the prosperity of the country with high national pride".

References

{{DPRK supreme leaders hymns North Korean songs Propaganda songs Propaganda in North Korea Songs about Kim Jong-un North Korean military marches

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Video

Reception

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References