Why a Russian rock band made a music video set in ‘totalitarian’ North Korea



Features Why a Russian rock band made a music video set in ‘totalitarian’ North Korea ‘Tsoi is Dead’ plunges viewers into a surreal version of Pyongyang, telling the story of a boy’s rock ‘n roll rebellion Anton Sokolin April 2, 2025 SHARE COPY LINK FACEBOOK X LINKEDIN MASTODON Shots of the filming process of ModeM's "Tsoi is Dead" music video \| Image: ModeM's Igor Lobanov, edited by NK News The video opens with bleak images of a communist cityscape, drenched in a dull gray. Statues of dead Kim family leaders tower over a young boy with a red socialist youth neckerchief as he walks with his parents. It looks like a state TV news report, or perhaps documentary footage from Pyongyang. Then the power chords kick in. The video opens with bleak images of a communist cityscape, drenched in a dull gray. Statues of dead Kim family leaders tower over a young boy with a red socialist youth neckerchief as he walks with his parents. It looks like a state TV news report, or perhaps documentary footage from Pyongyang. Then the power chords kick in. Try unlimited access Only $1 for four weeks Unlimited access to all of NK News: reporting, investigations, analysis Year-one discount if you continue past $1 trial period The NK News Daily Update, an email newsletter to keep you in the loop Searchable archive of all content, photo galleries, special columns Contact NK News reporters with tips or requests for reporting Get unlimited access to all NK News content, including original reporting, investigations, and analyses by our team of DPRK experts. Subscribe now All major cards accepted. No commitments – you can cancel any time. © Korea Risk Group. All rights reserved. No part of this content may be reproduced, distributed, or used for commercial purposes without prior written permission from Korea Risk Group. Get the Daily Update Start your day with the North Korea stories that matter most – as selected by And how should we address you in correspondence? One more step! Please check your inbox, for an email we just sent you, and click on the confirmation message in it to get subscribed to our Daily News Update. Trending

Features

Why a Russian rock band made a music video set in ‘totalitarian’ North Korea

‘Tsoi is Dead’ plunges viewers into a surreal version of Pyongyang, telling the story of a boy’s rock ‘n roll rebellion

Anton Sokolin April 2, 2025

Why a Russian rock band made a music video set in ‘totalitarian’ North Korea

Shots of the filming process of ModeM's "Tsoi is Dead" music video | Image: ModeM's Igor Lobanov, edited by NK News

The video opens with bleak images of a communist cityscape, drenched in a dull gray. Statues of dead Kim family leaders tower over a young boy with a red socialist youth neckerchief as he walks with his parents. It looks like a state TV news report, or perhaps documentary footage from Pyongyang.

Then the power chords kick in.

Try unlimited access
Only $1 for four weeks

Unlimited access to all of NK News: reporting, investigations, analysis
Year-one discount if you continue past $1 trial period
The NK News Daily Update, an email newsletter to keep you in the loop
Searchable archive of all content, photo galleries, special columns
Contact NK News reporters with tips or requests for reporting

Get unlimited access to all NK News content, including original reporting, investigations, and analyses by our team of DPRK experts.

Subscribe now

All major cards accepted. No commitments – you can cancel any time.

Why a Russian rock band made a music video set in ‘totalitarian’ North Korea

Try unlimited accessOnly $1 for four weeks

Start your day with the North Korea stories that matter most –

as selected by <img width="226" height="50" class="logo" src="https://www.nknews.org/wp-content/themes/nknews/images/header-logo.png" alt="NK News Logo">

One more step!

Trending

Recent Stories

About the Author

Anton Sokolin

Try unlimited access
Only $1 for four weeks

Start your day with
the North Korea stories that matter most –

as selected by