Strolling hand-in-hand with her father at a missile launch. Celebrating Pyongyang’s first spy satellite alongside him. Lauded not only as “most-beloved” but as “respected”, the “morning star of Korea” and “female general”.
Kim Ju-ae’s extensive promotion in North Korean media has prompted South Korea’s intelligence agency to name her this month as the likely heir to supreme leader Kim Jong-un. Though she is thought to have an elder brother and a younger sibling, they have remained anonymous. While her father is still young, at just 40, there have been persistent questions about his health.
It is not just her age – reportedly about 10 – that has raised eyebrows. Elevating her to the top job would be a dramatic move in a highly patriarchal country, even if her brother is for some reason judged unsuitable. Some regard it as simply unthinkable, suggesting that powerful men in the elite might not stomach her leadership even if her father had ordained it. It may be that her prominence is designed to bolster his image as a loving parent, as well as the family cult.
Mr Kim has already broken the mould of his father and grandfather in pushing some women to the forefront. His sister Kim Yo-jong has played a key role in international affairs, with some suggesting that she is the second most important figure in the country. Several other women have risen to prominent positions. There are anecdotal reports of more female government workers – albeit in less influential and worse paid posts than men.
The high profile women, however, are all related to Mr Kim or other elite families. There is no sign that he has prioritised women’s interests more broadly, or that the handful of female decision‑makers may shift policy in their favour or widen their opportunities. Last month the supreme leader urged them to have more children and told mothers to prevent antisocial behaviour among the young. The UN special rapporteur on North Korea, Elizabeth Salmón, has warned of “widespread and severe violations” of women’s rights, including their protection from gender-based violence and labour and reproductive rights.
For ordinary women, any progress has come through their own efforts. The collapse of the state economy in the 1990s forced North Koreans to find other ways to feed themselves: because married women don’t have to take government-assigned jobs, they became the main breadwinners as the informal economy boomed. Some complained of the double burden of labour, and working as traders or across the Chinese border made them more vulnerable to exploitation and abuse outside the home – but others reported that they gained new status within it. Husbands and sons were forced to acknowledge their importance to the family.
Since then women have been disproportionately hit by international sanctions – and then by a draconian crackdown blamed on the pandemic. North Korea not only closed its borders but sharply curbed domestic travel and trade. Food availability last year may have been at its worst since the 90s famine. Human Rights Watch warns that the restrictions have most affected women and girls – but not, of course, those at the top. Even if Ju-ae succeeds her father, she is unlikely to change things for ordinary North Korean women, who must struggle every step of the way to make and defend their modest social and economic advances. Their story may not be as eye-catching, but it is more compelling.
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