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A North Korean propaganda song extolling Kim Jong Un as “a great leader and a friendly parent” has gone viral on TikTok, with mashups and dances racking up millions of views, leading to South Korea banning the tune due to “psychological warfare.”

Seoul’s media regulator on Monday announced it was blocking access to versions of “Friendly Father,” the cheery propaganda hit that became an unlikely social media sensation.

The song was unveiled in April during a nighttime concert to mark the completion of a housing project in the capital Pyongyang, according to North Korean state-run Korean Central News Agency.

Friendly Father

Its lyrics praise Kim – the third-generation leader of one of the world’s most autocratic nations as “a great leader and a friendly parent,” and the music video depicts North Koreans enthusiastically belting out the orchestral song proclaiming that Kim “takes care of us with affection.”

While North Korean propaganda is nothing new, the difference this time is that “Friendly Father” was posted on TikTok – whose owner is Chinese internet giant ByteDance. The song went viral after content creators around the world used it to make their edits of the music video adding dances and unserious captions to their short one-minute clips on the platform, garnering over 2 million views.

But it wasn’t necessarily a propaganda coup for Pyongyang.

“This isn’t Gen Z suddenly declaring allegiance to the regime,” said Alexandra Leonzini, a Cambridge University scholar researching North Korean music.

“They’re laughing at the regime, not with the regime.”

Ban from YouTube

Nonetheless, South Korean security officials came down on the parodies. The Korea Communications Standards Commission decided to block 29 videos of the song, following a request from Seoul’s National Intelligence Service. But some versions of the song on YouTube were still accessible to users in South Korea as of Wednesday.

“The video is typical content linked to psychological warfare against South Korea, as it was posted on a channel operated to connect with the outside world and mainly focused on unilaterally idolizing and glorifying Kim,” the regulator said in a statement.

The ban was not a surprise, as the country’s National Security Act blocks access to North Korean government websites and media, restricting exposure to Kim’s autocratic regime and penalizing behaviours promoting its authoritarian and nuclear-armed neighbour.

More than 90% of the reclusive state’s propaganda songs are about idolizing its leader and “Friendly Father” is no different, said Ha Seung-hee, a visiting professor of North Korea studies at Dongguk University.

However, it does show an improvement in production values and could signal a new propaganda strategy for the country.