Song of General Kim Jong Il

1997 marching song from North Korea

Song of General Kim Jong Il
Chosŏn'gŭl	김정일장군의 노래
Hancha	金正日將軍의 노래
Revised Romanization	Gim Jeong-il Janggun ui Norae
McCune–Reischauer	Kim Chŏng-il Changgun ŭi Norae

Instrumental sample

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The "Song of General Kim Jong Il" (Korean: 김정일장군의 노래 Kimjongil janggunui nolae) is a marching song from North Korea. It was composed by Sol Myong-sun (설명순, 1936–2012^[1]) and the words were written by Sin Un-ho (신운호, 1941 – March 24, 2020) in 1997.^[2]^[3]

The song praises the "Eternal General Secretary", Kim Jong Il (who ruled from 1994 until 2011) as a part of his cult of personality. During the presidency of Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong Il helped to run his father's own personality cult. Although the "Song of General Kim Jong Il" is not as widely popular as the "Song of General Kim Il Sung" (nor was his cult as large as his father's), it is also played regularly in North Korea.

The song is played by the North Korean state television at the start of broadcasts each day.^[4] It was also played after the telecast of Kim Jong Il's memorial service on December 29, 2011. Pyongyang FM Broadcasting [ko] also plays a chime version of the first two lines of the song as its interval signal at the start of broadcasts.^{[citation needed]}

According to North Korean sources, their satellite Kwangmyŏngsŏng-2, supposedly launched in a test on April 5, 2009, is broadcasting this song amongst other data.^[5]

An English version has been recorded by Ritta Dimek.^[6]

References

^ 北혁명가요 작곡가 설명순 사망. Yonhap News Agency. 21 July 2012.
^ "Song of General Kim Jong Il". Naenara. Retrieved 12 December 2015.
^ 北 '김정일장군의 노래' 작사 신운호 사망...김정은 조화보내. tongilnews. 25 March 2020.
^ "KCTV startup". Korean Central Television. 13 April 2013. Archived from the original on 19 December 2021 – via YouTube.
^ "Defiant N Korea launches rocket". BBC News. 5 April 2009.
^ "Immortal Revolutionary Paean 'Song of General Kim Jong Il". Voice of Korea. Arts. Song: "Ode to Comrade Kim Jong Il". Retrieved 8 June 2018.