Guitar is an increasingly popular choice for North Korean elementary and middle school students. “Elementary and middle school students are keen on learning guitar nowadays,” a source from South Pyongan Province conveyed today. “It has always been popular as an instrument for the masses, but this fever to learn in order to get the upper hand in the military is new.”

According to the Daily NK source, growth in the guitar market is being driven by the fact that knowing how to play guitar can yield a role with a “propaganda unit” of the military, the teams whose task it is to strike up revolutionary songs to encourage loyalty and engender feats of productivity in all kinds of places, from factory entrances to military units and farm fields.

This has not always been the case. In the 1960s, the North Korean authorities rejected the guitar as a revisionist instrument of delinquents, one that threatened the cultivation of ethnic Korean heritage. As such, traditional instruments such as the gayageum and bamboo flute were encouraged in its stead. However, in the 80s the guitar made a popular comeback alongside the accordion, appearing in New Year’s children’s performances attended by Kim Il Sung and becoming part of the school curriculum.

North Korea’s domestically produced guitars come from “Mangkyungdae Instrument Factory” in Pyongyang. In addition to guitars, the factory produces instruments including accordions and Gayageums for art troupes, schools and various enterprises.

Although a small number of locally produced guitars have long been on sale in North Korea’s largest state department stores, restrictions on entry into the capital meant that it was hard for people in the suburbs to obtain them even where money was available. This is why the number of people who owned the instrument was very small until the jangmadang, or market, emerged in the 1990s.

In the 2000s, however, guitars grew more common. In particular, one made in Jagang Province with leftover materials from production of other goods in factories, a so-called “8.3 product”, appeared on the market. According to the source, “Jagang Province is mountainous and has an abundance of trees, so it has the capacity to produce guitar parts. However, guitars from Mangkyungdae Instrument Factory and the Jagang ones not only differ in appearance; the sound quality is also very different.”

“You have to check that the finger board is level and test the accuracy of the notes, quality of the sound box and the tuning pegs,” she went on. Homemade guitar strings currently cost 1000 KPW each, while ones imported from China are 5000 KPW.

“Students used to learn guitar as a hobby or out of interest, but now more are choosing to do it for the sake of a better future. Because musical talent is desired by the state for propaganda and agitation, it is a great way to avoid hard work on construction sites,” the source said.

For example, when conscription comes around in April, anyone who knows how to play the accordion, guitar or trumpet is likely to receive a favorable deployment. Since men must serve for 10 years and women for 6 years in North Korea, and soldiers don’t always receive sufficient rations to avoid malnutrition, parents seek ways to alleviate their children’s burden. This includes private lessons in piano, accordion, guitar or trumpet, according to the source.

“Although those private lessons are subjected to strict regulation, officials silently allow them because music teachers are also in difficult circumstances with the lack of rations and wages and such,” the source explained. “The cost of a private lesson depends on whether you’re in a city or suburb, and also on what instrument you want to learn. The cheapest lesson fee is around 50,000 KPW per month.”

“It’s impossible for the average person to own a piano, let alone receive lessons. Medium-size ‘Silver Bell’ accordions sell in Sinuiju markets for 5000 Yuan, but factory guitars are 250,000 KPW and handmade ‘8.3’ guitars 75,000 KPW. Only wealthy families can afford a piano and private lessons, but since guitars are relatively cheaper and widely available, it is a popular choice,” the source said.