Its first performance was at the inaugural ceremony of the Pyongyang Institute founded by President Kim Il Sung.

By September 1954, full control of the band was given to the Ministry of Public Security, serving for the remainder of the Cold War and the 1990s before being reorganized into a separate entity in June 1998 as a directly reporting unit of the General Political Bureau of the Korean People's Army, tasked as the primary unit for the military music activities throughout the whole KPA.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has described the band as one that is "instilling revolutionary enthusiasm and fighting spirit into all the service personnel and people.

"[5] The band is similar to United States college marching bands in that they both solely specialize in military style marching, notably during ceremonial parades and public performances.

The band has been known to play pop, brass & military music during many of its performances.