South Korea's 'Hanwha 40' Military Drill Prepares with Multilingual Music Videos for Troops' Morale

Taiwanese military personnel are set to participate in the nation's annual large-scale exercise, "Han Kuo 40," in August. In preparation for the war simulation, the Ministry of National Defense conducted a three-day "Military Morale and Esprit de Corps Project Education" session to solidify soldiers' mental fortitude and team cohesion. The Ministry's Political Warfare Bureau specially designed a new program focusing on official and enlisted personnel's mental development and morale-building, with the highly anticipated "Tiger's Ledger and Melody" unit diverging from traditional practices of playing popular music. For the first time, the program highlighted "Taiwan Military Arts and Culture Awards" winners as the focus of the music and lyrics, showcasing the nation's military cultural soft power.

To make the winning works more relatable to soldiers' daily lives and diverse cultural backgrounds, the Ministry has invested in producing six new music videos this year. What is particularly noteworthy is that these videos break away from a single linguistic framework, featuring multiple languages, including Mandarin, Taiwanese, and indigenous languages. This approach not only reflects Taiwan's diverse cultural society but also allows soldiers from different cultural backgrounds to experience a deeper emotional resonance, ultimately achieving the goal of "educating through music."

Military morale has long been an indispensable intangible force in modernized national defense. From a military theoretical perspective, a unit's strength is not solely dependent on the quality of its equipment and tactical training, but also on the soldiers' sense of national identity and mission to protect the country and people. Faced with the complexities of regional security and growing grey-zone threats, the Taiwanese military is seeking to strike a balance between warlike training and the psychological construction of soldiers through its morale-building project education. By using music and images, the military aims to effectively alleviate the pressure of preparedness while fostering a unifying force among all military personnel.

As the "Han Kuo 40" exercise approaches, Taiwanese military units are busily engaged in war preparations and cooperative training. The morale-building project education, launched at this critical juncture, undoubtedly serves as a comprehensive psychological mobilization for the upcoming live exercise. Through the transmission of diverse language original songs, the Ministry of National Defense has showcased its progress in morale-building and conveyed to the public the Taiwanese military's unwavering determination to defend the homeland without regard for ethnic differences.