They take the prettiest and ensure they have straight, good legs.
Across three generations of the Kim dynasty, a system of institutionalized sexual servitude has persisted in North Korea, drawing girls from classrooms and conscripting women into roles of enforced intimacy with the regime's leadership. Defectors who have escaped at great personal risk have begun to illuminate the machinery of this practice — its rituals of selection, its hierarchies of exploitation, and the silence enforced by the threat of execution. What emerges is not an aberration but a structure, one that mirrors the broader architecture of a state built on absolute control over human bodies and human futures. The story of the 'Pleasure Squad' is, in the end, a story about what power does when it faces no accountability.
- Girls as young as kindergarten age are identified in classrooms by state officials and marked for potential conscription into a system of sexual servitude serving Kim Jong Un and his generals.
- Defectors describe invasive virginity tests, forced separation from families, years of confinement, and the constant threat of execution for any woman who attempts to escape or speak out.
- The regime imports millions in luxury goods — spirits, lingerie, video game consoles — for its elite while nearly half the population faces undernourishment, exposing the grotesque hierarchy the Pleasure Squad exists within.
- A 2024 UN report based on three hundred witness testimonies confirms that surveillance has intensified and punishments have grown harsher, with capital punishment now applied for watching foreign television dramas.
- Despite international documentation and defector testimony, the system continues uninterrupted as Kim Jong Un expands his nuclear arsenal and formally enshrines a hostile two-state doctrine rejecting reunification.
In 2015, Kim Jong Un revived a practice dormant since his father's death — the 'Pleasure Squad,' a system of sexual servitude tracing its origins to his grandfather and the regime's founding. Its existence has come to light only through the courage of defectors willing to describe what they witnessed and survived.
Recruitment begins in schools. Officials arrive to identify girls deemed physically suitable, sometimes as young as kindergarten age, and subject them to invasive virginity tests rooted in a belief that the leader absorbs life force through sexual contact with virgins. Defector Yeonmi Park has documented how Kim personally selects roughly twenty-five girls annually, with the most attractive reserved for him and others assigned to generals. Families living in poverty sometimes welcome the selection, as squad members receive language training and salaries far exceeding what ordinary citizens can earn.
The squad operates in three divisions — massage, performance, and explicit sexual servitude. Defector Mi-hyang, conscripted at fifteen, spent a decade in Kim Jong Il's squad, barred from family contact and traveling between the dictator's residences. Former military musician Lee So-yeon described women being stripped and forced to provide sexual services at daily politburo parties. Another defector, Hee Yeon, witnessed classmates selected for their legs and looks, trained to serve the leader caviar alongside sexual services.
The system extends to an armored pleasure train of twenty carriages in which young women aged thirteen to twenty-five entertain Kim during diplomatic journeys, including a 2023 summit with Vladimir Putin. Women are typically discarded by their mid-twenties, sometimes married off to bodyguards. Researchers estimate between one and two thousand women are conscripted at any given time.
The contrast with the lives of ordinary North Koreans is devastating. In 2022, while forty-five percent of the population faced undernourishment, the regime imported luxury lingerie, millions in spirits, and video game consoles for its elite. A 2024 UN report concluded that no other population on earth faces such comprehensive restrictions on freedom, with new technologies deepening surveillance and punishments now including execution for watching foreign dramas.
The machinery of exploitation continues as Kim expands his nuclear arsenal and formally declares a hostile two-state posture toward the South. Three generations into the Kim dynasty, the Pleasure Squad endures — sustained by fear, poverty, and the absolute impunity of a regime that has never been made to answer for it.
In 2015, three years into his rule as North Korea's third supreme leader, Kim Jong Un revived a dark family practice that had lain dormant since his father's death four years earlier. He ordered the creation of a new 'Pleasure Squad'—a system of sexual servitude that traces its lineage back to his grandfather, the regime's founder. The details of this machinery have emerged only through the testimonies of defectors brave enough to speak publicly about what they witnessed and endured.
The recruitment process begins in classrooms. Officials arrive at schools and identify girls deemed physically suitable, sometimes as young as kindergarten age, and mark them for potential conscription. Those selected undergo invasive medical examinations to verify virginity—a criterion the Kim family has long considered essential, rooted in a belief that sexual contact with virgin women allows the leader to absorb their 'ki,' or life force. Yeonmi Park, a defector who escaped North Korea at thirteen and now runs a popular YouTube channel with over a million subscribers, has documented how officials conduct systematic searches through towns and schoolyards, visiting classrooms to ensure they miss no promising candidates. According to Park's accounts, Kim Jong Un personally selects approximately twenty-five virgin girls each year after they pass these examinations. The women are then sorted by attractiveness and social status: the most appealing are reserved for the dictator himself, while those deemed less striking are assigned to serve generals and other high-ranking officials.
The 'Pleasure Squad' operates in three specialized divisions. One group provides massage services. Another performs as singers and dancers. The third is explicitly trained for sexual servitude. Park notes that girls with family members who have escaped North Korea or have relatives abroad are systematically excluded from selection—a screening mechanism designed to eliminate potential security risks. Yet for many families living in desperate poverty, with limited access to clean water, basic sanitation, or household appliances, the prospect of their daughter entering the squad represents a chance at a better life. The women receive training in foreign languages including English, Japanese, and Chinese, and earn reported salaries between £1,500 and £3,000 annually, sums that dwarf what ordinary citizens can access.
Multiple defectors have provided detailed accounts of the system's mechanics. Mi-hyang, who was conscripted at fifteen after being pulled from her classroom by uniformed officials, spent a decade in Kim Jong Il's 'Pleasure Squad.' She described being asked invasive questions about her sexual history and being barred from all contact with her family. She traveled with the dictator to his residences around Pyongyang and to country homes in Kangdong and Yongsung provinces. Though she claimed Kim Jong Il did not make sexual advances while she remained a teenager, she believed he would have done so had she stayed longer. Lee So-yeon, a former military musician, provided harrowing testimony about dancers and singers forced to strip and provide sexual services at daily parties for the regime's Central Politburo, describing women being treated as objects and subjected to what she characterized as systematic human rights violations. A defector named Hee Yeon witnessed classmates being taken away to become sex servants and saw officials selecting the 'prettiest' girls, ensuring they had 'straight, good legs,' to be trained in serving the leader delicacies like caviar and in providing massage and sexual services.
The system extends beyond the regime's residences. Kim Jong Un travels in an armored train equipped with twenty carriages, pink sofas, a conference room, and a dining gallery where he consumes meals of extraordinary luxury. Young women and girls, typically aged thirteen to twenty-five, board this 'Pleasure Train' to entertain him during diplomatic journeys. Those selected receive approximately twenty months of training and study in sexual servitude and contraception. The train, which travels at no faster than thirty-seven miles per hour, has accompanied Kim on trips to China and Russia, including a 2023 summit with Vladimir Putin. According to a 2020 report, those deemed worthy of boarding the train must have no prior boyfriends and undergo rigorous ideological conditioning.
Women's tenure in the 'Pleasure Squad' is typically brief. Most are cast out by their mid-twenties, sometimes married off to Kim's personal bodyguards. Some rumors suggest that Kim's wife was originally recruited from the squad herself. The system reflects evolving aesthetic preferences within the Kim dynasty: Kim Jong Un favors slender, tall women with 'western-looking' features, while his father preferred round-faced women who would not tower over his five-foot-two frame, and his grandfather maintained more traditional tastes. Aidan Foster-Carter, a senior research fellow at the University of Leeds, estimates that between one thousand and two thousand women are conscripted to the squad at any given time, with the vast majority under twenty-five years old.
The contrast between the regime's treatment of its elite and the suffering of its general population is stark. In 2022, while forty-five percent of North Korea's population suffered from undernourishment according to UN data, the regime spent £122,000 importing women's luxury underwear—bras, girdles, corsets, suspenders, and garters. The same year, the upper echelons imported £2.6 million worth of spirits and liqueurs, primarily from China, and £203,000 in video game consoles and parlor games. Meanwhile, a UN report published in September 2024, based on interviews with three hundred witnesses, documented that surveillance has grown more pervasive with new technologies and punishments have become harsher, including the introduction of capital punishment for sharing foreign television dramas. The report concluded that no other population on earth faces such comprehensive restrictions on freedom.
The system persists as Kim Jong Un consolidates power and expands his nuclear arsenal. In recent weeks, he unveiled fifty new launch vehicles for nuclear-capable short-range missiles and convened a major ruling party congress to institutionalize his rejection of reunification with the South, declaring instead a hostile 'two-state' system. The machinery of sexual exploitation continues uninterrupted, a family tradition now spanning three generations, sustained by fear, poverty, and the absolute power of a regime that answers to no one.
Citas Notables
They pick girls around the town, in their elementary school, in their kindergarten, and they groom them into becoming masseuses, dancers and singers, who are obliged to perform sexual acts for the country's elite.— Yeonmi Park, defector and human rights activist
They have to learn how to please these men—that's their only goal. Officials select women based on social status and attractiveness, with the most appealing reserved for the despot himself.— Yeonmi Park, describing the system's structure
These parties are held every day for the Central Politburo. And even if they don't want this they have to serve with their bodies. The women there, when they attend, they have to undress. They are asked to undress like objects.— Lee So-yeon, former military musician and defector
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
Why does virginity matter so much to these leaders? It seems like an obsession.
According to the defectors, the Kim family believes that sexual contact with virgin women allows them to absorb the woman's 'ki'—her life force. It's rooted in a kind of mystical thinking about power and vitality. Whether the leaders actually believe this or use it as justification, the effect is the same: it creates a systematic preference for young girls, which makes the whole apparatus even more predatory.
How do they even identify these girls? It seems impossible to screen an entire population.
They don't need to screen everyone. Officials visit schools regularly, looking for girls who meet their physical criteria. Teachers know what's happening. Parents know. It's not hidden—it's systematic. And because the regime controls everything, there's no mechanism to resist or report it. The girls are simply taken.
What happens to them after they leave the squad?
Most are cast out in their mid-twenties. Some are married off to Kim's bodyguards. Others simply disappear from public life. The defectors suggest that if a woman becomes pregnant, the consequences are severe—possibly execution. There's no exit strategy, no reintegration. You're either in the system or you're gone.
The defectors who speak out—aren't they risking their lives?
Absolutely. The regime has labeled Yeonmi Park a 'poisonous mushroom' and a 'propaganda puppet' for speaking publicly. Anyone still in North Korea who talks about this faces execution. The defectors who have spoken are already outside the country, but they know their families inside may face retaliation. It takes extraordinary courage.
Why does the international community not do more?
The UN has documented these abuses. They've called it crimes against humanity. But North Korea is isolated, heavily armed with nuclear weapons, and backed by China. Economic sanctions exist, but they don't stop the regime from importing luxury goods while its people starve. The machinery of power is too entrenched, and the cost of intervention is too high for most countries to bear.