Some users have even recorded their own versions of the song, with one pianist adding a note to his cover reading: “In no way do I support Kim Jong-un and his dictatorship.”
Peter Moody, a North Korea analyst at Sungkyunkwan University, described the popularity of the song as “significant”.
“North Korean songs have gone viral before, but usually it’s been to mock them,” he told The Telegraph.
“But this is one of the first – if not only – times I’ve heard about a North Korean song going viral with people in different parts of the world expressing appreciation for it, musically.”
Music is one of North Korea’s most powerful tools – despite the country severely limiting creative and artistic freedom.
Citizens wake up each morning to propaganda songs booming out from town squares, while lyrics to new songs are printed in newspapers across the country. Often, North Koreans must learn dances too.
Scholars say that the melodies are written to be simple and accessible, while tunes are pitched at a vocal range that most people can sing.
