North Korean leader Kim Jong-un attended the completion ceremony of a seaside resort in Gama County, Gangwon Province, with his wife and daughter, the North Korean state news agency KCNA reported yesterday (June 26).
The appearance was the first public appearance of first lady Ri Sol-ju in a year and a half since she celebrated the New Year in January 2024.
The South Korean media Daily Business News reported that the bag Ri Sol-ju carried that day was suspected to be from the Gucci brand and had a chain shoulder strap. Although there were no clear photos of the bag, judging from the leather and the location of the logo, it is expected to be a GG Marmont model. The medium-sized bag is priced at 4 million won (about 96,000 baht) on the website.
The luxury watch worn by Kim Ju-ae, the daughter of the North Korean leader, can also be seen. She wore a Cartier watch, believed to be a Baignoire model, studded with diamonds, priced at 30.8 million won (about 739,000 baht).
Recently, people have noticed an increase in the frequency of Kim Jong-un and his daughter’s public appearances. Previously, the two had just attended the launching ceremony of a new destroyer in April. At that time, a resident of North Hamgyong Province told foreign media that the couple’s extravagant behavior aroused public suspicion and dissatisfaction.
People familiar with the matter also revealed that during the ceremony, Kim Jong-un kept interacting with his daughter, but rarely talked to other officials. This made some locals say: “The leader seems to be only interested in his daughter, but not other officials. This is really strange.”
North Korean society does attach great importance to the system of seniority. Therefore, Kim Ju-ae, who is only in her teens, frequently appeared on the stage as an important guest, sometimes even sitting higher than senior officials, which aroused doubts from the outside world and quietly bred dissatisfaction in the hearts of people within the system. Many people speculate that Kim Jong-un may be positioning his daughter as a future successor.
However, the deep-rooted conservative thinking in North Korean society, coupled with the growing dissatisfaction of the people, means that Kim Ju-ae’s leadership path may not be as smooth as imagined.
