South Korean nutritional supplements are becoming a desired luxury among the North Korean elite with parents wondering how they can get their children to grow as quickly as the teenage girl of the supreme chief, sources told RFA.
Kim Ju Ae made her last appearance in State Media on April 25, when she attended the launch ceremony for a North Korean warship in Nampo Shipyard.
In a photo of the event, where she is imagined next to her father on the platform, she appears almost at the same height as Kim Jong one, who would have about 5 feet 7 inches (170 centimeters) in height.
Even if Kim Ju Ae carries heels, it would make her much larger than most girls her age. She would be 12 or 13 years old. This is based on an account of the former NBA basketball star, Dennis Rodman, who says she saw Kim Jong’s daughter when she was a baby during a visit to the country in 2013.
Even in South Korea, where children are much better fed, the average height of a 12 -year -old girl is around 155 centimeters.
Ju Ae is certainly significantly larger and seems more mature than in past photos. Her first public appearance took place in November 2022, while as Joufflu pre-adolescents, she accompanied her father for an inspection of what the experts said they were an intercontinental ballistic missile. Since then, she has appeared at other events, including missile launches, official banquets and troops.
“Three years ago, when the daughter of the supreme chief appeared for the first time on television, she still looked like a young child,” said a source from the province of North Hamgyong, speaking under the cover of anonymity for security reasons.
“But recently, during the launch event of Destroyer, she had grown so much that her size was almost comparable to that of her father.”
“Residents, who have long fought against food shortages, could not focus a lot on the growth of their children,” said the source. “But now, with the child of the supreme chief who is growing quickly before their eyes, many residents have started to pay more attention to the development of their own children.”
Request for South Korean nutritional supplements
According to joint malnutrition estimates for children from 2023, published by UNICEF, WHO and the World Bank, 16.8% of North Korean children under the age of five were slowed down due to chronic malnutrition in 2022. This rate is almost ten times higher than that of South Korea, where only 1.7% were slowed down.
The striking contrast between the girl visibly well nourished by the North Korean leader and the general malnutrition population has fueled a certain public resentment. But it also stimulated interest in children’s size and physical development, according to several local sources.
The source of the province of North Hamgyong said that interest has extended to nutritional supplements, in particular the “tende-chu” supplements in South Korea.
Tenten was launched in 1994, marketed as a growth help rich in vitamins for children and for immunity and recovery of fatigue in adults. Some criticize its strong sugar content.
According to La Source, Tenten is currently sold at four times the South Korean price in North Korea – the equivalent of around 500 yuan or $ 69. Despite this high price, it is still at high demand among senior officials and others who can afford, said the source.
A source from the northern province of Pyongan, which also sought anonymity for security reasons, said that there was another reason why people want their children to be older: social status.
In North Korea, young men should generally join the army after high school. Those who do not comply with the required height standard are often rejected from conscription.
“Nowadays, residents are focusing more and more on the size of their children,” said the source. “Previously, children in North Korea were considered socially disadvantaged because of their short stature, especially when they obtained their secondary school diploma at 17 and could not even reach 150 cm (5 feet).”
“Some children could not even join the army and were rather sent to work on construction or on farms. Naturally, those who have a short stature tended to feel socially inferior,” said the source.
The source said that residents have resorted to growth supplements, even if it means renouncing other necessities.
The source added that South Korea supplements are sometimes rebilled as Chinese products before being introduced as a smuggling in North Korea.
Published by Sungwon Yang and Mat Pennington