Kim Jong-un once spent £2.7million on underwear, but who was it for?

Kim Jong-un never fails to terrify, confuse and amaze us with his crazy habits and unpredictable behaviour. He is known as a vicious leader who reportedly executed a general in a fish tank of piranhas, and his family are just as deadly. Indeed, his sister has been dubbed the ‘Most Dangerous Woman in the World'. It’s clear that Kim is a man of extremes, and this extends past violence to food and all the way to sexual pleasures.

In 2017, it was reported that the North Korean leader spent a whopping £2.7million on sexy lingerie. Now, that’s a lot of lace, so who was it for? Well, the answer is just as grim as you might imagine. The racy underwear was destined for the band of virgins known as his ‘Pleasure Squad’. So, what is this troupe of women and when did this tradition start?

What is Kim Jong-un's ‘Pleasure Squad’?

The ‘Pleasure Squad’ is a group of young women who have been scouted and forced into a life of sexual servitude. They are plucked from classrooms - some at only 13 years old - to form part of this troupe destined to ‘entertain’ the dictator and his cronies. The girls undergo medical checks to confirm they are still virgins.

These young women are then taken away from their families and posted in officials’ houses, available for whatever entertainment North Korean leaders desire. According to Newsweek:

Recruiters were reportedly sent to scour the country for the prettiest women, who would then be recruited to the squad as dancers, singers, maids and concubines to senior officials in the ruling Workers' Party.

Kim Jong-un imported suspenders and corsets for the troupe from China, doubling the figure he spent the previous year, in 2016. His actions appear particularly callous as his country was facing - as it still is - a food crisis. At the time, the UN said two million people were struggling to survive on pitiful hand-outs from the state; a daily allowance of 650 grams of maize, rice and meat.

Where does this grim tradition come from?

The ‘Pleasure Squad’ tradition dates back to the days of North Korea’s founding ruler Kim Il-sung. Kim Jong-un’s grandfather created the first troupe, and this has been passed down the generations.

Kim Jong-un’s father Kim Jong-il also had a troupe, but following his death in 2011 they were fired. The women were reportedly gifted around $4,000’s worth of gifts in the form of household appliances, according to the South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo. This was to buy their silence, just in case the pledge of secrecy they signed wasn’t enough to keep their lips zipped.

Toshimitsu Shigemura, a professor at Waseda University in Tokyo, told the Telegraph:

This has been going on under three generations of the Kim family ruling North Korea and it has become a tradition that is also a demonstration of the leader's power over the people and his sexual power.

Power is at the heart of everything Kim does, and his actions will undoubtedly continue to baffle us as he rules North Korea with an iron fist.

Read more:

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⋙ The real reason Kim Jong-un's mansion is falling apart

⋙ Kim Jong-un makes ‘permanent’ change in country's constitution that could have terrifying consequences

Sources used:

Newsweek: Kim Jong-un Assembles New 'Pleasure Squad' of Young Women

Daily Mail: Kim Thong-un! North Korean dictator blows £2.7million on racy lingerie for his band of girls plucked as virgins to entertain him and his cronies