Parody of Rosé's 'APT.' satirizing Kim Jong-un, Kim Yo-jong goes viral online

As the duet hit song "APT." by K-pop girl group Blackpink member Rosé and U.S. pop star Bruno Mars gains popularity, a parody music video using deepfakes of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and his sister went viral.

A scene from “APT.KP” parody music video uploaded on YouTube on Oct. 31. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

As the duet hit song "APT." by K-pop girl group Blackpink member Rosé and U.S. pop star Bruno Mars gains popularity, a parody music video using deepfakes of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and his sister went viral.

A video titled "APT.KP" was uploaded on YouTube on Oct. 31. The "KP" in the video's title stands for North Korea’s internet domain. Created with deepfake technology, this video digitally superimposes images of Kim Jong-un and his sister, Kim Yo-jong, on the original singers’ faces, making it appear as if they are singing the song.

In the video, Kim Jong-un, wearing sunglasses, plays the drums and guitar while Kim Yo-jong dances and sings. Images of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-il, the late North Korean leader who died in 2011, also appear throughout the video.

The lyrics have been altered to reflect the North Korean context. The main lyrics have been changed to "Rocket," while the "kissy face, kissy face" line, an expression symbolized by a lip-puckering emoticon, has been replaced with "surprise deployment, surprise deployment."

Other lyrics include "avoid falling debris completely," "nukes every day" and "star of the Korean people." The creator of this video, with the username Lildoge_Mars, has shared various other North Korean parody videos on the channel.

The video, which appears to mock Kim Jong-un and North Korea's situation, received enthusiastic reactions from younger viewers. Comments below the video include “BruNorth Mars” and “More effective than the South’s anti-North broadcasts.”

Within nine days of release, the video surpassed 5.72 million views and garnered nearly 21,000 comments. Short-form videos derived from this video, also reached high view counts individually.

A scene from “APT.KP” parody music video uploaded on YouTube on Oct. 31. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

“In the past, young people saw North Korea as part of a shared ethnic identity,” said culture critic Ha Jae-geun. “Recently, however, antagonism and resentment have grown as North Korea is increasingly viewed as a bizarre group harassing South Korea. Given this strong resentment, satirical content based on humor, a form of expression among young people, is naturally popular.”

Some worry that trivializing North Korea’s actions could erode security awareness, especially with North Korea sending troops to Ukraine and escalating provocations around the Korean Peninsula.

“It’s fortunate that young people recognize Kim Jong-un’s faults, but I worry that they may be taking this too lightly, given that South Korea remains technically at war,” said a 61-year-old woman surnamed Lee.

“Due to the normalization of provocations by North Korea, people feel a lower sense of actual security threats,” said Park Won-gon, a professor of North Korean Studies at Ewha Womans University.

“Given the current state of relations between Russia and North Korea and various situations, such as debris attacks, the threat from North Korea is real, and we must maintain security awareness,” said Nam Sung-wook, director of Korea University’s Institute for National Unification and Convergence.

BY LEE BO-RAM [kim.minyoung5@joongang.co.kr]