Kim Jong-un sees himself and wife Ri Sol-ju as the Kennedys of North Korea, reveals new book
As speculation over Kim Jong-un's health rages on, a new book has claimed that the North Korean dictator saw himself as John F Kennedy and his wife, Ri Sol-ju, with her impeccable sense of fashion and grace, as Jackie.
In her book, 'Becoming Kim Jong-un: A Former CIA Officer's Insights into North Korea's Enigmatic Young Dictator,' former CIA analyst Jung H Pak said that Kim "literally and figuratively groomed" Ri so she would look the part of First Lady.
She said that Kim had made Ri a "walking advertisement" for his image of North Korea as a modern, prosperous country despite the reality that it was a brutal dictatorship whose citizens lived in poverty and fear.
While much is not known about Ri, it is believed that she was a former cheerleader and a member of the Unhasu Orchestra, an elite troupe handpicked by the state for their looks, loyalty, and talent.
Her family is reportedly from the political elite and she is said to be related to Ri Pyong-chol, a former air force general and close advisor of Kim Jong-un. Her marriage to Kim was hastily arranged by his father Kim Jong-il after he suffered a stroke in 2008.
Though she tied the knot with the dictator a year later, her first public appearance came only seven months after he took power in 2011, and it took another year for North Korean state media to confirm she was his wife, "Comrade Ri Sol-ju."
She has been indispensable since then, justifying the confirmation of her marriage to Kim, which had marked a change from Kim Jong-il, who had never introduced his wives to the public.
While her penchant for western clothes was against tradition — Kim's grandfather had made it illegal for women to wear trousers when not at work — it earned comparisons to other powerful women.
In her book, Pak brought up an occasion where Ri was pictured wearing a blue dress and three quarter length suit with a sparkly brooch when watching a flight contest amongst a sea of men and said she was "channeling Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge" and "evoking the storied elegance of Jackie Kennedy."
She said Kim was "grooming her to be Pyongyang's First Lady," something that makes sense when you consider she saw her title elevated to "respected first lady" in the state media as the continued making appearances alongside him.
It was considered a significant honor, and the first time the title had been used since 1974, with Pak writing that Kim saw her as "another component of his power".
The analyst said Ri "provides the regime with a softer side, a thin veneer of style and good humor to mask the brutality, starvation, and deprivation endured by the people" and "personified the charm in the North Korean charm offensive."
Like Jackie, she is reportedly a "glamorous and devoted wife" and a "glimpse of an emerging material and consumer culture which Kim seems to be actively promoting."