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12 Apr, 11 tweets, 4 min read
Patriotic & Cultural Tour De Forces of America & DPR Korea Contrasted:

America’s Greatest Generation (then) had the Andrew Sisters:
2/DPR Korea (now) has Millennial Generation Moranbong Band. Despite the diffs citizens of both countries are enrapt when their dedicated patriotic women perform spiritedly to pump energy into the the people and raise patriotic spirits, hopes & camaraderie.
3/
4/Yet there’s a whole lot more to Moranbong Band than just being a ‘girl group’:
5/America had it’s ‘Camelot’ Era:

“During the early 1960s, President Kennedy lived a life of glamour and power that was unprecedented in American politics — a brief moment in time now remembered as "Camelot.””
allthatsinteresting.com/camelot-kennedy
6/Whether DPRK analysts realize it or not, Kim Jong Un and Respected First Lady Ri Sol Ju, the 3rd generation of Paektu Bloodline, are today's version of North Korea’s Camelot who are tasked w/ taking their country forward thru difficult times to peace.
7/Kim Jong Un & Kim Yo Jong “attended the private International School of Berne in Gümligen in Switzerland” and Ri Sol-ju “is said to have graduated from Geumsung 2 Middle School in Pyongyang and studied abroad in China majoring in vocal music.”
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ri_Sol-ju
8/Having an acute understanding "the outside world", DPRK's 'Royal Family' is focused on socialist solidarity, improving economy & building self-defense and is using Moranbong Band as an agent for cultural diplomacy, Propaganda & Agitation & weather vane for change in the regime.
9/To reiterate, the Moranbong Band is:
A Lot More Than A "Girl Group"
10/I'm sure that Kim Jong Un has seen The Andrew Sisters performing Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy, and I wouldn't be surprised if that gave him the idea of forming Moranbong Band (I could b wrong.) That would be amazing if The Andrew Sisters were the inspiration behind Moranbong Band.
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More from @BonicMichael

Michael L Bonic Profile picture
13 Apr
China’s ex-ambassador to Britain Liu Xiaoming named special envoy for North Korea
* Liu will help coordinate and resolve issues related to the Korean peninsula, according to foreign ministry
amp.scmp.com/news/china/dip…
2/It’s interesting that:

“Beijing’s policy towards North Korea has always been unconventional, as key decisions are not made by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs – where Liu has built his career – but by the International Liaison Department, an agency under the Communist Party’s
3/“Central Committee.

One of the agency’s roles is to build relations with fellow communist countries like Cuba, Vietnam and North Korea.

Pyongyang has always preferred to deal with liaison department officials over foreign ministry diplomats...”
Read 13 tweets
Michael L Bonic Profile picture
12 Apr
A Lot More Than A "Girl Group"

The Moranbong Band, DPRK's string quartet fronting a rock-n-roll band, is Kim Jong Un’s personally minted, musical-tour-de-force, Millennial vehicle for Propaganda & Agitation and cultural diplomacy and is the cultural weather vane for the regime.
2/Pyongyang's elite and Millennial Gen love Moranbong Band and the Old Guard of Kim's & Ri's parents' generation can’t get enough of them while the West & South Korea sees them only as “North Korea’s version of the Spice Girls”.
3/Yet beneath the masterfully orchestrated and optically polished veneer, Moranbong Band is a whole lot more than just a string quartet fronting a rock-n-roll band.

How much do you know about North Korea's top girl group 'Moranbong Band' ?
Read 8 tweets
Michael L Bonic Profile picture
12 Apr
“It is true that one of the best ways to change North Korea is to expose its people to overseas information — to introduce them the alternative ways of life, to show them that things can be run definitively.”

Really? Is that the truth?
nknews.org/2021/04/the-wo…
2/Moranbong Band plays rock-n-roll to Old Guard.

Why was Rocky Theme performed in North Korea by Moranbong Band?

"Kim used Moranbong Band to signal change in the regime. From now on, propaganda and agitation will be carried out based on Morangbong Band.””
3/"Kim used Moranbong Band to signal change in the regime. From now on, propaganda & agitation will be carried out based on Morangbong Band.

Moranbong Band[’s] music is westernized, up-tempo & digital, heavily focusing on visual affect."
Read 9 tweets
Michael L Bonic Profile picture
12 Apr
Kim Jong Un is on a mission to build thousands of new apartments in Pyongyang
The North Korean leader visited a luxury apartment complex construction site to emphasize his push for better housing
nknews.org/2021/04/kim-jo…
2/“After vowing to gift hundreds of new apartment units to North Korea’s finest teachers, writers and scientists by the end of the year, Kim Jong Un reportedly showed up at the complex’s construction site for a second time to show he’s serious about the project.
3/"On Thursday, North Korean state media reported that Kim visited the apartment grounds near Pyongyang’s Pothong River, an area that some experts say is among the most coveted neighborhoods in the country’s capital city. Kim Il-Gi, a senior researcher at the Institute for
Read 10 tweets
Michael L Bonic Profile picture
11 Apr
Moranbong Band, Kim Jong Un's answer to K-pop, garnering attention in South Korea
The leader of the band is making headlines after a visit to South Korea.
[From January 23, 2018]
abcnews.go.com/International/…
2/“Moranbong Band is an all-female music group from North Korea. Popular for its sensuous performances, the band makes use of synthesizers and electric guitars on stage. Even more shocking, performers wear short skirts and show off flashy dance moves to attract public gaze --
3/"more in line with South Korean pop groups than traditional, conservative performance groups in North Korea.

The band's debut concert in July 2012 came as a refreshing jolt to North Korean people. Strobe lights, electric instruments and state-of-the-art stage settings were
Read 13 tweets
Michael L Bonic Profile picture
11 Apr
Let Them Eat Concerts, II: Musical Diplomacy, the Ri Sol-ju Rollout, and Kim Ki-Nam
Analysis of the Moranbong Band as an instrument of DPRK cultural diplomacy, interaction with “First Lady” Ri Sol-ju, and the geriatrics of the Politburo.”
[AUGUST 04, 2012]
sinonk.com/2012/08/04/let…
2/There is so much more to Moranbong Band than meets the eye of the Western lens. Adam Cathcart decodes it all for us:

"What if the Moranbong Band’s first and second concerts were more than simply entertainment for his wife (who accompanied him to both performances), but part of
3/"a larger plan for cultural ties of DPRK with the outside? Are the concerts, in other words, the spearpoint of a cultural offensive by the Kim Jong Un regime along the lines of a Deng Xiaoping-style opening?

Considering Musical Diplomacy |  As has previously been argued about
Read 17 tweets

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