Where Are You, Dear General?

North Korean song

"어디에 계십니까 그리운 장군님"
Vinyl soundtrack of A True Daughter of the Party
Song
Language	Korean
English title	Where Are You, Dear General?
Published	1971
Composer(s)	Kim Jong Il (allegedly)

"Where Are You, Dear General?"
Chosŏn'gŭl	어디에 계십니까 그리운 장군님
Revised Romanization	Eodie gyesimnikka geuriun janggunnim
McCune–Reischauer	Ŏdie kyeshimnikka kŭriun changgunnim

"Where Are You, Dear General?" (Korean: 어디에 계십니까 그리운 장군님; MR: Ŏdie kyeshimnikka kŭriun changgunnim)^[1] is a North Korean song, supposedly written by Kim Jong Il. Since at least 2008, the song plays through speakers of the Pyongyang Railway Station in the morning, albeit heavily distorted.

History

The song was composed as the theme for the 1971 revolutionary opera A True Daughter of the Party (당의 참된 딸; Tangŭi ch'amdoen ttal).^[2] The song's alleged composer is the former Supreme Leader of North Korea Kim Jong Il.^[3] A True Daughter of the Party is set during the Korean War and features the army nurse Kang Yeon-ok (강연옥) as the protagonist. "Where Are You, Dear General?" is performed towards the opera's climax as Kang delivers military intelligence to North Korean headquarters. In the song, Kang expresses her lifelong dream to meet her great leader and "dear general" Kim Il Sung.^[2]^[3] The pro-North Korean propaganda site DPRK Today describes the song as an "immortal classic masterpiece" (불후의 고전적명작).^[2] The song became regularly performed by official choirs and popular music groups like the Pochonbo Electronic Ensemble. It is also often broadcast on North Korean television.^[3]^[4]

Current use

A cover of the song by the Pochonbo Electronic Ensemble plays every morning in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang at 6 a.m. through a system of loudspeakers on the clock tower of the city's railway station.^[5]^[6] Tourists visiting Pyongyang have reported this daily occurrence since 2008. It has been assumed that the city-wide broadcast of the song serves as a morning alarm clock.^[3] The writer Travis Jeppesen, in his 2018 book See You Again in Pyongyang about his travels in North Korea, described the sound of "Where Are You, Dear General?" through Pyongyang's loudspeakers as that of an "antiquated synthesizer" such as a theremin.^[7] Others have described the sound as "heavily distorted and barely recognizable" from the original song.^[3]

References

^ "Where Are You, Dear General?". Explore DPRK. Retrieved March 18, 2021.
^ ^a ^b ^c 5대혁명가극 [5 Revolutionary Operas] (in Korean). DPRK Today. Retrieved March 18, 2021.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Noone, Greg (July 28, 2017). "Morning Chorus: Pyongyang's 6 am wake up call". NK News. Retrieved March 18, 2021.
^ "Vol. 30 Pochonbo Electronic Ensemble - SensCritique". Senscritique. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
^ Whitmer, Kelly. "Racing Through Pyongyang". Sewanee: The University of the South. Retrieved March 18, 2021.
^ Khawaja, Jemayel (July 10, 2017). "North Korea's Secret Weapon Is Terrible Synth Pop". Vice News. Retrieved March 18, 2021.
^ Jeppesen, Travis (9 June 2018). "See You Again in Pyongyang: A Journey into Kim Jong Un's North Korea". Barnes & Noble. Retrieved March 30, 2021.