Kim Jong-un moves favourite band into luxury palace ‘to reward them for loyalty’

North Korean despot Kim Jong-un is believed to have moved his favourite band into a luxury palace, reports say.

The dictator is said to be a huge fan of the Band of the State Affairs Commission (SAC) and has rewarded its members for their ‘loyalty’.

Their propaganda-laden hits have made them big stars in their homeland.

NK News reports the group members could be living a life of luxury “extraordinary reward” for their loyalty”.

The news comes after the tubby tyrant admitted that food supplies in North Korea were “becoming tense”.

Recent photos and music videos suggest the musicians could be living at the lavish Kumusasan Guesthouse in the east of capital Pyongyang.

It’s home to “multiple” palatial buildings, and a lake, and was built to accommodate Chinese leader Xi Jinping during a visit two years ago.

Kim met the young musicians on Sunday at the palace, according to state media, and it was the location for one of their recent videos.

NK News suggests Kim is unlikely to have met them for a photoshoot regarding the coincidence.

The members have also been snapped relaxing and writing music in the luxury surroundings, believed to be inside the palace or nearby Paekhwawon Guesthouse, also seen from one of their recent music videos.

NK News writes: “Multiple scenes in the new videos suggest that the SAC band lives in the luxurious accommodations of these palaces or the equally plush Samjiyon Theater across town, as members have been shown sitting on couches writing together late into the night and pacing the halls while studying music.

“The band could have been granted long-term residence or seasonal access to these places as a gift from the state.

“The band currently serves as the ruling party’s favored propaganda tool and is an instrumental part of the regime’s ideological campaign to shore up loyalty to Kim Jong Un — an apparent issue facing the country, according to the North Korean leader.”

It’s said the tyrant’s regime is keen to use music to stir up loyalty and a spirit of sacrifice in the state.

Last week, the Pyongyang government admitted to a United Nations committee that food production in the country had dropped to its lowest ever level.

It said that it was due to “natural disasters and weak resilience, insufficient farming materials and low level of mechanisation.”

Kim also confessed the “food situation is now getting tense”, as the North Korean government rarely admits its problems.

For the latest news and breaking stories from across the world, sign up to the Daily Star newsletter here.