"결사옹위" (defend to the death): roadside sign with armed figures, North Korea (photographed 2017)
A free-standing billboard on a steel frame beside a street shows a gold star on a wreath above three helmeted figures, one holding an assault rifle, on a red field. The only text is the four-syllable slogan 'Gyeolsa-ongwi', 'defend [the leadership] to the death'. The tell: the slogan names no threat and no object of defence in words; the leadership is understood and loyalty is cast as a duty of every armed citizen.
- Date
- January 2, 2017
- Period
- Contemporary
- Made by
- Workers' Party of Korea (roadside sign; issuer not named)
- Region
- East Asia
- Country
- North Korea
- Medium
- Signs and banners
- Issuer type
- Party
- Leader
- Kim Jong UN
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Techniques
- Identity fusionGlittering generalities
- Leader
- Kim Jong Un
- Source
- Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- Source
- Wikimedia Commons, retrieved October 2, 2026
- Rights
- CC BY-SA 2.0 (photographer jennybento; Commons page states it); sign shown in situ, see notes
Roadside Poster
Text on the object
결사옹위
Defend [the leadership] to the death
Single four-syllable slogan read from the hosted photograph. The bracketed object is implied by the standing usage of the slogan, not printed. Translation by machine, not verified by a fluent reader.
.jpg){kind=link}