Military-First Girls | |||||||
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Origin | Japan | ||||||
Genres | North Korean pop | ||||||
Years active | c. 2013 | –present||||||
Members |
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Korean name | |||||||
Chosŏn'gŭl | 선군녀자 | ||||||
Hancha | 先軍女子 | ||||||
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Japanese name | |||||||
Kanji | 先軍女子 | ||||||
Kana | せんぐん じょし | ||||||
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The Military-First Girls (Japanese: 先軍女子, Hepburn: Sengun Joshi, from the Korean term Songun) are a Japanese all-women fan club of the Moranbong Band, a North Korean girl group. The club has held live performances where members dance to North Korean pop songs, following the choreography of the Moranbong Band. The club's founder and leader is Chunhun, a Japanese illustrator who became interested in North Korean culture after coming across North Korean propaganda art during her university studies.
Chunhun has stated that her goal is to introduce North Korean culture to the Japanese public and normalize their perceptions of the country. She has compared her club's interest in North Korean music to other Japanese women's interest in K-pop and American singer Taylor Swift. Club members have received backlash from Japanese nationalists and right-wingers due to their perceived sympathies towards North Korea.