Author Suki Kim discussed the attitude of South Korea towards the cheerleading squad from the hermit kingdom and declared the influences of over 30,000 defectors has hamstrung the effectiveness of Kim Jong-un’s propaganda plan.
She explained: “On Wednesday, within hours of the cheerleaders’ arrival, photos of them had begun appearing on South Korean news. But there are some signs that North Korea’s lipstick diplomacy isn’t as effective as it once was.
“Thirteen years since the cheerleaders’ last visit to the South in 2005, some of their exoticism has worn off.
“Over 30,000 defectors now live in South Korea, and they’ve helped remove some of the sense of mystery.
“At the same time, reality TV shows featuring North Korean women — called ‘defector beauties’ — telling all about their lives back home or participating in ‘The Bachelor’-type searches for love have chipped away at the sense of the North as a land of innocents.”
The author added that an increased awareness of the rogue nation across the border has made South Koreans more “jaded” about the idea of a united nation.
She went on: “The younger generation of South Koreans not only has more exposure to the North but is more jaded about the united-Korea propaganda that the cheerleaders represent.”
The increased awareness of the North Korean cheerleading brigade came from South Korea after a notable speech from former leader Kim Dae-jung in 2006, according to the expert.
She continued: “The North Korean cheer squad gained international notice only because of South Korea.
“During a 2006 speech at Pusan University, Kim Dae-jung recounted the story: The mayor of Pusan was worried that the 2002 Asian Games, hosted by his city, would be poorly attended.
“The mayor brought up the possibility of North Korean athletes’ participating as an attention-grabbing ploy; Kim Dae-jung did him one better, sending a special envoy to the North’s leader, Kim Jong-il, to ask him to send not only athletes but cheering fans as well.
“’Make sure the cheerleaders are pretty girls,’ Kim Dae-jung said. Kim Jong-il complied, sending over 288 just such women.
“The students broke into applause when Kim Dae-jung concluded his account by saying how pleased he was with the outcome: The girls were pretty, the games were a success, and the city of Pusan made money.”
The expert also said the cheerleaders are mostly comprised of students in the hermit kingdom from wealthy families that are loyal to the regime of despot leader Kim Jong-un.
In addition to the deployment of a cheerleading squad, the North Korean leader also dispatched his sister, Kim Yo-jong, to the South.
Yo-jong appeared keen to further diffuse tensions between the two nations after inviting South Korean president Moon Jae-in to the rogue nation to meet with her bother.
The announcement sets the stage for the first meeting of Korean leaders in more than a decade at a time when the embittered rivals appear to be a period of detente as South Korea hosts the Winter Olympic Games, which began on Friday.
Any meeting would represent a diplomatic coup for president Moon, who swept to power last year on a policy of engaging more with the reclusive North.