Foreign media analyzed that the fashion of Kim Ju-ae, daughter of North Korea's State Affairs Commission Chairperson Kim Jong-un, could be a political staging and propaganda device hinting at a hereditary transfer of power. Kim Ju-ae has appeared at official events wearing leather, fur, and other items that ordinary North Koreans rarely encounter in daily life.
The British public broadcaster BBC analyzed Kim Ju-ae's fashion in an article titled "Dressing for succession: What Kim Ju-ae's fashion reveals about North Korea's future" on the 6th.
Kim Ju-ae made her first official appearance at the site of the Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) test launch in Nov. 2022. Then believed to be around 9 years old, Kim was shown wearing a white puffer jacket and black pants, holding the Chairperson's hand while looking around the missile.
Since then, Kim Ju-ae has begun appearing at official events in outfits that are generally difficult for ordinary North Koreans to wear. Leather jackets, fur-trimmed coats, and sheer blouses are representative. The BBC said this could be a propaganda device that both crafts the image of a young successor into that of a mature and strong leader and shows that the Kim family holds a privileged status different from that of ordinary residents.
In particular, Kim Ju-ae has often been seen wearing a leather jacket similar to the Chairperson's. On this, the BBC said, "The so-called 'image replication' of emulating the fashion of a previous generation is a strategy North Korean leaders have used to maintain power," adding, "Kim Jong-un likewise adopted attire similar to his grandfather Kim Il-sung in the early days of his rule to secure his legitimacy."
Jung Seong-jang, vice president of the Sejong Institute, told the BBC, "The Propaganda and Agitation Department played a very important role in staging a series of processes so that respect for Kim Il-sung would naturally transfer to Kim Jong-un," adding, "The limitations of the young successor Kim Jong-un—such as a lack of experience and youth—could be offset simply by the fact that Kim resembled Kim Il-sung."
Jung also analyzed that, beyond solidifying Kim Ju-ae's legitimacy as a successor, there was an intention to show that her social status is fundamentally different from that of ordinary residents. Jung said, "Wearing high-end leather outfits is a way to flaunt one's special status," adding, "Leather clothing is uncommon among North Koreans. Luxury brands, leather jackets, and fur coats are prized garments that ordinary North Koreans cannot wear."
Kim Ju-ae's fashion also contrasts with the North Korean authorities' crackdown on outside culture among residents. North Korea enacted the "Law on Rejecting Reactionary Ideology and Culture" in 2020 to block the inflow of external culture, yet in a 2023 ICBM-related video, Kim Ju-ae appeared wearing a $1,900 black puffer jacket from the French luxury brand Christian Dior. In May 2024, she wore a sleeveless sheer blouse at a completion ceremony for a housing district in Pyongyang.