Living under Kim Jong-Un’s extreme rules: the life of Ri Sol-Ju

It’s a well-known fact that Kim Jong-un, North Korea’s dictator, thrives on media attention, constantly generating bizarre headlines from his reclusive country.

There is no exception in the dictator’s family life, as his wife, Ri Sol-ju, the First Lady of North Korea, must conform to many extreme traditionalist practices.

First of all, Ri Sol-ju and Kim Jong-un were forced to marry each other according to the Korea Times. 

The newspaper reported that when Kim Jong-un’s father Kim Jong-il had a stroke in 2008, he ordered that his son marry Ri Sol-ju and there was no questioning the supreme leader.

Ri Sol-ju had to leave her birth name behind after becoming Kim Jong-un's wife. Her entire past was deliberately hidden and her real name and year of birth are a mystery to the public, according to South Korea intelligence reports.

It is said that Ri Sol-ju has not seen her parents since she married Kim. But not because she comes from an obscure family in North Korea…

On the contrary, she comes from a wealthy and respected family, according to South Korean media, which makes restricting her access to her family rather unusual.

Ri Sol-ju’s clothing is conservative and needs her husband’s approval, according to ABC News, though she wears designer clothes and is considered a ‘fashion icon’ to North Korean women.

She’s not allowed to wear jeans, even though she wore more Western-style clothing in the early days of their marriage, ABC reported.

Likewise, after giving birth to her first child in 2010, Ri Sol-ju’s hairstyle has seemed to stay the same in all pictures made public of her, several media outlets have noted.

It is impossible to see Ri Sol-ju alone. She’s always seen with Kim. Her children are normally not allowed to be seen at public events.

Until recently, when Kim began taking their eldest daughter Ju Ae out in public with him, not a single picture of their kids had ever been seen, although there were some speculations on the internet.

Without Kim Jung-un’s direct permission, no one dares to take a photo of the first lady or the family, according to South Korean media.

Ri Sol-ju is not allowed to travel or take tours outside her country. She can only participate in funeral-related visits upon the death of a leader and, of course, accompanied by her husband, according to South Korean media outlets.

Ri has lived under strict protection ever since she became part of the ruling family of North Korea. But that level of security and isolation is further strengthened whenever she’s been pregnant, when she has dissapeared from the public eye for several months.

Some South Korean media outlets  say Ri was forced into childbirth right after marriage. 

According to most, she married Kim in 2009 and gave birth in 2010. Although a few others say the couple got married in 2010.

South Korea's top intelligence agency confirmed recently that North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un and Ri Sol Ju have three children two girls and a boy, the eldest. However, the only one of them that has ever been seen in public is one of the girls.

Very little is known for certain about Ri Sol-ju’s origins. But according to South Korean intelligence, her date of birth is between 1984 and 1989, and her family belongs to the political elite of North Korea.

Some North Korean commentators have identified Ri as a singer in the Unhasu Orchestra, that has made several overseas performances. Furthermore, South Korean intelligence reported she was a student at Kim II-sung University where it is rumored she achieved a PhD in science.

However, since marrying Kim, North Korean officials have tried to “erase” her past as a singer by confiscating CDs and DVDs of her performances, according to South Korean media. Now she’s a mystery to the public that has to put up with her husband's extreme restrictions.