So I, unfortunately, came across this TikTok on my FYP and it set off major alarms. First of all, why the hell did it come onto my page, and second, is this even true? If you don’t want to watch the TikTok I’ve got you covered:
The person who made the TikTok cites these books and articles:
Dear Leader My Escape From North Korea by Jane Jin Sung
Nothing To Envy Ordinary Lives In North Korea by Barbara Demick
Rogue Regime Kim Jong Il and the looming threat of North Korea by Jasper Decker
Without You, There Is No Us by Suki Kim
Under The Loving Care Of The Fatherly Leader by Bradley K. Martin
North Korea’s Organization and Guidance Department by Robert Collins
The articles:
https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/asia/pleasure-squad-defector-sheds-light-on-life-of-kim-jong-il-1.481988?outputType=amp
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2005/08/22/kimworld
https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/wtf/the-secret-sex-parties-of-north-koreas-elite/news-story/567c1e94e43066b585feaebaad61900b
https://www.gq.com/story/kim-jong-il-sushi-chef-kenji-fujimoto-adam-johnson
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/kim-jongun-reinstates-pleasure-troupe-harem-of-young-women-10150879.html
Transcript:
“The pleasure squad is comprised of about 2000 North Korean girls divided into three different teams: there’s the sexual services team, the massages team, and the entertainment team. These young girls are appointed to the squad in middle school or high school, typically between the ages of 13 to 16 and they serve for about 10 years. This squad is run as official part of the government. It’s under the Cadres department, which is run by this man, Kim Phyong Hae, and it not only serves Kim Jong Un, it serves his top leaders and his inner circle. This squad is also nothing new in North Korea. Kim Jong Un’s father, Kim Jong Il, and his father, Kim Il Sung. Both had pleasure squads for themselves. The government has an official process which they do every single year to find new girls for the squad. Theres also specific selection criteria for who they can choose to put on the squad and I want to read a firsthand account from this book (Nothing to Envy) on what the process looks like: this is a firsthand account from a woman named Mi-ran
now, fortunately, Mi-ran was not selected to go any further, her family was not at a high enough social class for her to be selected, but the girls who do go further have to meet strict criteria: they have to be a certain height, free of scars and blemishes, and had to have a soft, feminine voice, they were also required to be a virgin. After the top girls are selected they are sent to Section 5 of the Cadres department. The Cadres department reviews the list, whittles them down, and then sends their final selections to the North Korean leader. He then handpicks who he wants to be on his squad, thee new recruits go to a six month training course before they start, they are then assigned to one of the royal residences around North Korea. It says 32 here but there’s a lot more nowadays. This book (Rogue Regime) is a little bit old. We have stories from men who are either related to the North Korean leader, or served him in some capacity, talking about the Pleasure Squad. The girls were constant presences at guest houses regardless of what team they were on. They typically all had to do some sort of sexual services including stripping naked or playing erotic games. Once the girls have served a decade, when they hit their mid twenties, they’re retired from their roles, they’re typically then married off to elite guards of Kim Jong Un and regardless, they’re kept under close watch because they’ve seen so much behind the scenes. Theres only one case in history where we know a group of girls were allowed to return to their families; they were each paid $4000, which is a lot in North Korea, as well as giving gifts in exchange for swearing to secrecy. Anybody who broke this pledge would be immediately executed.”
"Whatever is written in a book is right — such is still the mentality of culturally backward Chinese peasants. Strangely enough, within the Communist Party there are also people who always say in a discussion, "Show me where it's written in the book." When we say that a directive of a higher organ of leadership is correct, that is not just because it comes from "a higher organ of leadership" but because its contents conform with both the objective and subjective circumstances of the struggle and meet its requirements. It is quite wrong to take a formalistic attitude and blindly carry out directives without discussing and examining them in the light of actual conditions simply because they come from a higher organ. It is the mischief done by this formalism which explains why the line and tactics of the Party do not take deeper root among the masses. To carry out a directive of a higher organ blindly, and seemingly without any disagreement, is not really to carry it out but is the most artful way of opposing or sabotaging it.
The method of studying the social sciences exclusively from the book is likewise extremely dangerous and may even lead one onto the road of counter-revolution. Clear proof of this is provided by the fact that whole batches of Chinese Communists who confined themselves to books in their study of the social sciences have turned into counter-revolutionaries. When we say Marxism is correct, it is certainly not because Marx was a "prophet" but because his theory has been proved correct in our practice and in our struggle. We need Marxism in our struggle. In our acceptance of his theory no such formalisation of mystical notion as that of "prophecy" ever enters our minds. Many who have read Marxist books have become renegades from the revolution, whereas illiterate workers often grasp Marxism very well. Of course we should study Marxist books, but this study must be integrated with our country's actual conditions. We need books, but we must overcome book worship, which is divorced from the actual situation.
How can we overcome book worship? The only way is to investigate the actual situation."