North Korean media promotes hymn to Kim
North Korea's state media has been playing a new hymn dedicated to new leader Kim Jong-Un in an apparent attempt to bolster his public support and personality cult. The title of the song, "Onwards toward the final victory", is the last phrase of Kim's speech on April 15 which marked the 100th birth anniversary of his late grandfather Kim Il-Sung. Ruling party newspaper Rodong Sinmun published the score on its front page last Tuesday. State broadcasters have been playing the hymn several times a day since then, according to South Korea's Yonhap news agency which monitors the North's broadcast media. The broadcasters claim the song is generating enthusiastic responses from soldiers, workers and college students, Yonhap said. It is the first time the North has publicly promoted a propaganda song for the untested young leader since he took over power after his father and long-time ruler Kim Jong-Il died in December. The Kim dynasty founded by Kim Il-Sung, which has ruled the nation since its founding in 1948, is the subject of an intense personality cult.
