Two students at a Wonsan arts school were reprimanded by the Socialist Patriotic Youth League for filming a birthday party and comparing it favorably to the Moranbong Band, illustrating how even offhand remarks can trigger ideological investigations in North Korea.
According to a Daily NK source in Kangwon Province on Sunday, a student at Wonsan School of the Arts invited several classmates to their home for a birthday party this month. They filmed the party and showed it to other classmates who couldn’t attend, just to show off.
One student who watched the video of the lively party, which featured singing and dancing, said they “did a better job than the Moranbong Band.” Word of this got back to the guidance officer of the school’s Socialist Patriotic Youth League branch, who turned it into an issue.
“The Moranbong Band is North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s group, so comparing anyone to them was a problem,” the source said. “It’s natural that the students would say something like that since they attend an arts school and likely sing and dance well. But once the Socialist Patriotic Youth League made an issue of it, the atmosphere at the school turned chilly.”
The school’s Socialist Patriotic Youth League branch called in the student who hosted the party and the student who mentioned the Moranbong Band and gave them a tongue-lashing, saying, “You’re ideologically sick,” “All you had to do was hang out on your birthday—why did you film it?” and “You dared to mention the Moranbong Band?”
Other students at the school were outraged that the Socialist Patriotic Youth League took issue with the Moranbong Band remark.
“Students at provincial arts schools are also very talented, but only graduates of the Kim Won Gyun Pyongyang University of Music and Dance or its affiliated schools join the Moranbong Band, so talent isn’t everything—money and power matter too,” the source said. “Provincial arts students are quietly jealous, saying it was true that they were more talented [than the Moranbong Band].”
“This is how students feel, and with the Socialist Patriotic Youth League taking issue with the remark about ‘performing better than the Moranbong Band,’ it seems to have unleashed the students’ pent-up feelings,” he said.
Meanwhile, some students appeared worried. “Now we have to be careful about everything we say and do,” they said. “We even have to keep our birthday parties quiet.”
North Korea has legally encoded its ideological efforts aimed at young people. Article 35 of the 2021 Youth Education Guarantee Act reads, “Institutions, enterprises and organizations and citizens must not ignore or overlook instances of young people acting unethically or uncultured on the street or in public places, but immediately criticize them so that they cannot continue amid social condemnation and pressure.”
That a Socialist Patriotic Youth League organization would turn even a private birthday party into an ideological problem demonstrates that these legal provisions are fully enforced on the ground.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: dailynk.com
