'Plump like the moon': Kim Jong-un's 'well-fed' daughter sparks anger among starving North Koreans
PYONGYANG, NORTH KOREA: North Koreans are reportedly enraged after seeing Kim Jong-un's daughter during her public appearances. She has been described as looking "plump like the moon" as she accompanied her father Kim Jong-un in a slew of state events amid chronic grain shortage in the country. Starving citizens slammed Kim Ju-ae, believed to be nine years old, for looking "so different" from the children of "common people" who often go hungry because of the country's food scarcity.
In her latest public appearance, Ju-ae was seen wearing a fur-collared long coat with golden buttons and leather gloves as she, her father, and several other VIPs dug the ceremonial first shovels of dirt while inaugurating a new street in the capital Pyongyang on February 25. It was her third public appearance in the same month.
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'Plump like the moon'
Many were upset by the latest father-daughter event amid chronic food shortages and widespread poverty in the country. “It makes me angry that my situation is so hard to bear, and Kim Ju Ae, who we all know is eating and living well, is showing up on TV in her fancy clothes so often,” one resident of the northwestern province of North Pyongan told Radio Free Asia’s Korean Service on condition of anonymity. Others noticed how healthy the nine-year-old child looked with her rosy cheeks. “The people are saying things like, ‘She must be eating so well, her face is so white and plump like the moon,’” the source continued. “Most people aren’t able to eat properly so their cheekbones stick out from their faces even more than ever before.”
Food shortage
Another source living north of the capital in South Pyongan province drew a contrast between Kim Ju Ae’s appearance to the scrawny children in their neighborhoods. “They are angry to see the plump white face of the Beloved Child appearing so often in propaganda,” they told RFA on condition of anonymity. “They say that she looks so different than the children of the common people, who cannot even eat three meals a day due to a lack of food.” North Korea will be short 1 million tons of grain this year, which is nearly 20% of its annual demand, the Associated Press reported last month citing South Korean experts. The second source told RFA that parading Kim Ju-ae around in expensive clothes was "hypocritical" considering high schoolers are often punished for supposedly following capitalist culture by growing their hair long or chasing fashion trends. “Kim Ju Ae’s clothing and appearance are completely different from what an ordinary teenage girl could get away with," they insisted.
Potential future leader
The street inauguration was reportedly the girl's seventh public appearance since she was first photographed at an intercontinental ballistic missile test in November 2022. Her repeated appearances are contributing to rumors that Kim Jong Un may be grooming her to take his place one day. However, it is still early to consider her as the heir apparent, South Korea’s minister of unification Kwon Young Se told CBS Radio in February. “Even if North Korea creates a succession structure from now on, questions remain as to whether a woman will be able to lead the military-centered North Korean regime,” he said. Kim is believed to have three children with his wife Ri Sol Ju, but it is unclear whether any of his children are boys.