North Korea isn’t exactly the kind of place where you would say artistic expression is valued, but when you’re handpicked by North Korea’s Supreme Leader you don’t tend to ask too many questions.

Back in 2012 Kim Jong Un selected five girls to comprise his own all-girl pop group, calling them the Moranbong Band.

Their signature tune is the gloriously named “Let’s Support Our Supreme Commander With Arms”, the girls rocking their signature military garb. Let’s have a look:

Doesn’t North Korea look amazing?

Some more titbits below from BusinessInsider:

The Moranbong Band were the first all-female band in the country…

Each of the [now] roughly 20 members is ranked highly in the North Korean military. The band often performs in slightly altered military outfits.

All band members play their own instruments and are recognised as highly technically skilled performers.

The band is hugely popular in North Korea. According to Sino NK, shops close and streets are empty during broadcasts of the band’s performances on the national TV station.

There has been a focus on unifying the bands aesthetic, to make each member look nearly identical. In 2013, members were put on diets so that they could reach the same weight.

In December 2015, The Moranbong band had three dates planned in Beijing. The concerts were to be their first performance in a foreign country. However, the concerts were mysteriously cancelled at the last minute.

It was later revealed that Chinese censors banned the girl group from performing because of “anti-American lyrics,” according to The Guardian. The offending lyrics called the US an “ambitious wolf” and glorified the Korean war.

The North Koreans having something nasty to say about the Americans – well I never.

Perhaps we can send Randall and the rest of the Idols judges over to help Kim Jong Un pick the next group. I for one wouldn’t be bothered if they never returned.

UPDATE – a reader, rodvdka, says this video below is his favourite and it really is a thing of beauty. His reasoning:

Watch them launch a missile on the screen (at 3:20) and then the whole crowd goes mad when the world explodes at the end. It’s a bit weird but I’m waiting for Hlaudi to imitate them and start a South African equivalent.

[source:businessinsider]