are occupied with regime-directed factory work or military duties. One defector told the online periodical Daily NK that “Pyongyang women are influenced by Ri Sol Ju…so they like to wear strappy heels.” But Ri is not the only trendsetter for North Koreans, as increased information penetration and the North Korean appetite for South Korean and Chinese soap operas also shape fashion choices. Suki Kim, the journalist who went undercover as a teacher at the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology, observed that “on the streets of Pyongyang, the people looked Chinese to me….Women’s hair was inevitably permed and pinned with sparkling barrettes the way I had seen women style their hair in China.” Defectors from North Korea have reported how they covertly binge-watched foreign media and adopted fashion based on the female characters; one defector featured in a documentary made by the NGO Liberty in North Korea said that his compatriots would watch foreign movies and sitcoms and then ask a smuggler to acquire the goods they saw, which they would then sell in the markets. People copied haircuts, hairpins, clothes, and accessories. The regime sought to promote Ri as a model for the domestic alternative: Her implicit endorsement of products made in North Korea, as demonstrated in her visits to cosmetics and shoe factories, was used to encourage her compatriots to look inside their own country for coveted items.
But there is an inherent tension in all of this. As the people’s interest in fashion and outward appearance grows, so do their expectations about being able to enjoy the fruits of economic development. The dangers of not being able to meet those expectations follow not far behind. A North Korean source put it this way to Daily NK: “Using the latest South Korean products indicates social class and living standard so people are desperate to keep up.” Defector memoirs hint at social conflict and the growing gap between the haves and have-nots, with cliques forming among children and families of the jangmadang generation who are demonstrably better off than their neighbors, a not unusual phenomenon, of course, in other societies. Despite the Kim regime’s best efforts to create a North Korean brand and an aspirational model in Ri, it struggles to compete with goods from more sophisticated companies in China and South Korea that are more adept at churning out the latest consumer trends. Kim almost certainly recognizes this deficiency, and it probably just reinforces his belief that he needs to maintain control of the flows of foreign products and cultural influences.
A WOMAN’S TOUCH
Ri Sol Ju made her diplomatic debut on March 5, 2018. Kim Jong Un was hosting his first ever South Korean delegation, consisting of National Security Adviser Chung Eui-yong and other top officials. They were in Pyongyang to set up the first Moon–Kim summit, which would occur a month later, so there was a weighty significance to the meeting, with a lot at stake. Whether emboldened by the alcohol served at the dinner, amity generated by the meeting, or a sense of mentoring a much younger man, Chung reportedly told Kim, “How about stopping smoking? It’s bad for your health.”
Those at the table froze, according to media reports. No one criticizes Kim, who can do no wrong in a country that considers him, his father, and his grandfather entirely above reproach. One can imagine the color draining from people’s faces as the air became thick with tension. Instead, lovely Ri clapped her hands and said, “I always ask him to quit smoking, but he won’t listen to me.” And just like that, she defused the tension, potentially keeping the two sides on track for the leadership summit on April 27.
Ri has been present with her husband at other summit meetings, traveling with Kim to Beijing to meet with President Xi in March 2018—Kim’s first trip outside the country as leader and his first meeting with Xi, whom he had ignored for the first six years of his rule. She also attended the inter-Korean summit in September 2018 in Pyongyang and joined subsequent trips to China, providing a First Lady counterpart for President Moon’s wife, Kim Jung-sook, and President Xi’s wife, Peng Liyuan.
Chinese and South Korean media were ablaze with commentary about her outfits, indicating North Korea’s success in trying to export the Kim family brand overseas. Since Ri was seen, and not heard, it was once again inevitable that the focus would be on her appearance. The South China Morning Post declared Ri an “instant