Kim Ju Ae's Elaborate Wardrobe Signifies North Korean Succession Plans
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's daughter, Ju Ae, first appeared in state propaganda in November 2022, dressed in black trousers and a white padded jacket, alongside her father and an intercontinental ballistic missile. Now reportedly 13 years old, her public appearances feature increasingly elaborate hairstyles and elegant outfits, prompting South Korean intelligence to suggest she is being groomed as her father's successor.
Fashion as Statecraft
Analysts note that Ju Ae’s evolving wardrobe, likely orchestrated by the Propaganda and Agitation Department, is a deliberate exercise in political messaging. Her attire often mirrors that of her mother, Ri Sol Ju, or her father, Kim Jong Un, a tactic known as 'image replication' previously employed to legitimise leadership. During his early years, Kim Jong Un adopted the fashion of his grandfather, Kim Il Sung, to project authority and continuity.
Sejong Institute deputy director Cheong Seong-chang highlights that Ju Ae's formal outfits serve to 'mask her youth and project a more mature image.' Her leather jackets, often matching her father's, are described as 'strong in impression and casual,' suitable for military sites, further solidifying her association with the regime's core power structures. These fashion choices also function as a 'differentiation strategy,' overtly signalling the Kim family’s elevated social standing above ordinary citizens, who are subject to stringent clothing regulations under the 2020 Reactionary Ideology and Culture Rejection Act.
Contradictions in Control
Despite the regime's strict controls on 'external culture' and 'anti-socialist' fashion, Ju Ae has been photographed in a £1,405 Christian Dior jacket and a partially see-through blouse. These instances underscore the Kim family's exemption from rules imposed on the general population. University of North Korean Studies professor Lee Woo-young observes, 'No matter how much they ban foreign culture and even enact laws, North Korea is a place where there is nothing the supreme leader is unable to do.'
Nonetheless, an uptick in luxury goods and similar fashion trends, such as fur coats and leather trench coats, has been reported among affluent North Koreans, indicating a desire to emulate the regime's visible elite. This phenomenon, where the leader becomes an unlikely fashion icon, is not new, with previous reports of young men adopting Kim Jong Un's hairstyle. Ju Ae now appears to occupy a similar role, setting trends despite the wider population's restricted access to outside information.
