Public opinion of Ri Sol Ju is growing

increasingly negative, Daily NK sources inside North Korea have been reporting.

Having entered the public eye as Kim Jong Eun’s wife in July 2012, Ri has since

come under scrutiny for a raft of perceived mistakes,

including dressing in a manner ill-suited to the norms of “socialist” North Korea.

Ri is a common topic in the North

Korean rumor mill, which means that sources from Pyongyang and provincial regions alike have

all heard similar critiques. Most center on the following themes: ▲ “How can a mere entertainer who just sang and danced become the ‘Mother

of Chosun’?” ▲ “She only cares about her makeup and

clothes, what does she care about the Republic?” ▲ “It’s awful to see elderly cadres bowing so deeply to a young woman

like that;” and ▲ “What does she know about the

country’s politics?”

A Pyongyang-based source reported to Daily

NK yesterday, “Criticism of the General’s wife comrade Ri Sol Ju is spreading,

particularly among the young, and the authorities are at pains to stop it.”

According to the source, derogatory terms to describe Ri are now in circulation, accusing her of being “just a cheap performer,” or a pretentious girl putting on the affectations of a foreign style.

“At first people just felt a bit awkward

seeing old cadres bow at the waist to her, but now they say it looks really ugly,”

the source went on. “The Republic is struggling and rations aren’t coming,

so people don’t understand how a woman who appears only to care for her

appearance would be able to guide the nation.”

Furthermore, “People may find it unsightly

to see cadres old enough to have known her father and grandfather bowing, but what

they really hate is seeing her shaking their hands like its nothing and then swan around brazenly laughing like that. When she was first introduced, people could

hardly believe she was going around arm-in-arm with Kim in that way.”

A second source, this one from Hyesan in northerly Yangkang

Province, reported similar views there. “The number of younger people who view comrade

Ri Sol Ju negatively is rising,” she said. “It’s true that some are

quite interested in her fashion decisions, but they agree that the wife of the

Supreme Leader ought not to be dressed like that. There are young people calling

her superficial for not sporting a Suryeong portrait badge and wearing flash accessories

instead.”

The source continued, “The General (Kim

Jong Il) did not reveal his wife in any official capacity, and people could

sense that she had a hard time. In contrast, they openly criticize Kim Jong

Eun’s wife, saying she is immature, inexperienced, living in the lap of luxury,

and ‘just a drink of water [i.e. dull]’.

“They even say things like, ‘If she is

going to be the Marshal’s wife, she ought to have qualifications befitting the

Mother of the State, but she couldn’t even graduate college.'”

Women are not alone in their criticism of

Ri’s appearance. “Men make sardonic remarks about her hairstyle

and wardrobe, saying that she must have seen a lot of South Chosun TV dramas,”

the source reported.

A third source, this one from Hoeryong in

North Hamkyung Province, cautioned against reading too much into the popularity

of Ri criticism, pointing out that “most people couldn’t care less about Ri Sol

Ju or Kim Jong Eun at all anyway. However, when Ri comes up in conversation the first thing

that comes to mind is ‘street performer’ not ‘Mother of the State.’ I’ve heard

people say that she doesn’t look very dignified at official events, and that she

seems to only pay attention to luxuries like her clothes, shoes, bags and

jewelry, and none to things like her portrait badge.”

Agents from the State Security Department

and the Ministry of People’s Security are tasked with gauging public opinion on the

ground, and are supposed to report negative comments when they hear them. Therefore, although this

may not always happen, news of deteriorating public opinion relating to the

wife of the leader will already be known to the top leadership in Pyongyang.

The question is whether they can counter it effectively.

“I heard a Party cadre say he thinks the

Central Party is taking the public’s negative consciousness of the Marshall’s

wife very seriously,” the Hyesan source revealed. “They are probably going to try

and quell that talk, but if Ri continues to appear in public in the same way as

she did last year then public opinion will only get worse.”

“The fact that a singer

could be the wife of the leader of the Republic is deeply off-putting for

people,” she concluded.

Ri Sol Ju was last seen in public at inter-military sporting

events held to commemorate the anniversary of Kim Jong Il’s birth on February

16th. It was her first public appearance in 40 days.