Kim Jong Un’s New Year’s Address: The Art of Propaganda

Kim Jong Un’s New Year’s address got a makeover in 2019. Gone was the lectern and flowers in front of a large assembly hall, and in came an armchair and a more relaxed style. KCTV thankfully got rid of most of the absurd recorded applause that punctuated his speech in previous years, although snippets were still used at the start and end.

The broadcast was set up with a shot of the clock in Pyongyang striking midnight and then a shot of the central offices of the Workers’ Party of Korea.

The late-night shot of the Workers’ Party building is a frequently used scene in North Korean propaganda. It’s meant to show that even in dead of night, the lights are on and the party is working for the North Korean people.

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