North Korea's first lady reappears after 17-month absence – with Gucci bag in tow
North Korea 's secretive ruling family put on a rare display of domestic harmony this week, as first lady Ri Sol-ju re-emerged in public after a 17-month absence, her return appearing to signal a carefully orchestrated bid to project an image of dynastic stability.
Advertisement
Ri, carrying what appeared to be a Gucci handbag, was photographed alongside her husband,
Kim Jong-un , and their daughter, Kim Ju-ae, at the opening of the long-delayed
Wonsan-Kalma coastal resort – a showcase tourist zone on the country's east coast.
The event, held on Tuesday and publicised in images released two days later by state media, was widely seen as a tightly choreographed family appearance intended to bolster the country's domestic and international image.
'This is a choreographed move designed to project an image of an ideal socialist family embodied by the Kims,' Hong Min, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification, told This Week in Asia.
Kim's younger sister, Kim Yo-jong, was also present but kept her distance, seen standing near aides and playing a background role in support of her brother, sister-in-law and niece.
Advertisement
Notably, Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui stood closer to Kim than his sister did, greeting foreign dignitaries including Russian Ambassador Alexandr Matsegora.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South China Morning Post
21 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
South Korea tries a different tack to sway its nuclear-armed neighbour: an olive branch
On a day heavy with memory, South Korea 's President Lee Jae-myung invoked the language of peace, urging restraint and dialogue even as the nuclear-armed North forges deeper ties with Russia and the Korean peninsula bristles with tension. 'The surest way to secure our safety is to build peace – peace so strong that there is no need to fight,' Lee said in a solemn social media post, commemorating the 75th anniversary of the onset of the Korean war. The conflict from 1950–53 left millions dead and ended with an armistice, but no peace treaty. 'The era of relying solely on military strength to defend the country is over,' Lee wrote in his post. 'It is better to win without war than to win through war.' His message was more than just rhetoric. In recent weeks, Lee's newly formed government has moved to recalibrate the peninsula's dangerous status quo, seeking to nudge North Korea from confrontation to conversation, even as the spectre of conflict looms larger than at any time in recent memory. A North Korean soldier stands guard in a watchtower next to a giant loudspeaker (right) near the demilitarised zone dividing the two Koreas on June 12. Photo: AFP In a gesture laden with symbolism, Seoul this month halted its loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts along the border – the first such move in a year. Within hours, Pyongyang reciprocated, silencing its own speakers.
South China Morning Post
2 days ago
- South China Morning Post
Americans held in South Korea for trying to send Bibles, cash and rice to North by sea
Six Americans were detained on Friday in South Korea for trying to send 1,600 plastic bottles filled with rice, US dollars bills and Bibles toward North Korea by sea, police said. The Americans tried to throw the bottles into the sea from frontline Gwanghwa Island so they could float toward North Korean shores by the tides, said a police officer who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media on the issue. He said they were being investigated on allegations that they violated the law on the management of safety and disasters. A second South Korean police officer confirmed the detentions of the Americans. The police officers gave no further details, including whether any of the six had made previous attempts to send bottles towards North Korea. Activists floating plastic bottles or flying balloons carrying anti-North Korea propaganda leaflets across the border has long caused tensions on the Korean peninsula.
South China Morning Post
3 days ago
- South China Morning Post
North Korea's first lady reappears after 17-month absence – with Gucci bag in tow
North Korea 's secretive ruling family put on a rare display of domestic harmony this week, as first lady Ri Sol-ju re-emerged in public after a 17-month absence, her return appearing to signal a carefully orchestrated bid to project an image of dynastic stability. Advertisement Ri, carrying what appeared to be a Gucci handbag, was photographed alongside her husband, Kim Jong-un , and their daughter, Kim Ju-ae, at the opening of the long-delayed Wonsan-Kalma coastal resort – a showcase tourist zone on the country's east coast. The event, held on Tuesday and publicised in images released two days later by state media, was widely seen as a tightly choreographed family appearance intended to bolster the country's domestic and international image. 'This is a choreographed move designed to project an image of an ideal socialist family embodied by the Kims,' Hong Min, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification, told This Week in Asia. Kim's younger sister, Kim Yo-jong, was also present but kept her distance, seen standing near aides and playing a background role in support of her brother, sister-in-law and niece. Advertisement Notably, Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui stood closer to Kim than his sister did, greeting foreign dignitaries including Russian Ambassador Alexandr Matsegora.
