Kippumjo

The Kippumjo or Gippeumjo (translated variously as Pleasure Group, Pleasure Groups, Pleasure Squad, Pleasure Brigade, or Joy Division) is an alleged collection of groups of approximately 2,000 women and girls that is maintained by the leader of North Korea for the purpose of providing pleasure, mostly of a sexual nature, and entertainment for high-ranking Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) officials and their families, as well as occasionally distinguished guests.

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Kippumjo
Chosŏn'gŭl
Hancha
기쁨組
Revised RomanizationGippeumjo
McCune–ReischauerKippŭmjo

The South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo said that the group that used to perform for Kim Jong-un's father, Kim Jong-il, was disbanded shortly after the elder Kim's death in December 2011. The members supposedly were made to sign a pledge of secrecy in exchange for money and gifts. According to the paper, the women who worked as entertainers received an amount of money worth $4,000 before returning to their hometowns. The girls in the squad would also receive compensation in the form of home appliances.[1]

Little is known outside North Korea about the Gippeumjo, but information has gradually emerged through the accounts of North Koreans who have defected, particularly Kenji Fujimoto and Mi Hyang.[2]

Etymology

The first two syllables of the name, gippeum, is a native Korean word meaning joy or happiness. The suffix jo (組) is a Sino-Korean word which describes a group of people, roughly analogous to the terms "squad" or "team". Kim Il-sung is believed to have established this corps of women in the belief that having sexual relations with young women would increase his jing and have the effect of enhancing his life force, or gi (chosŏn'gŭl: 기; hancha: 氣; no relation to the gi in gippeum).[3]

History

The Gippeumjo were reported to have been established in 1978, during the administration of Kim Il-sung.[1] The first group was recruited by Lee Dong-ho, the First Vice Director of the Department of United Front of the WPK, for the purpose of entertaining Kim at the Munsu Chodaeso (문수 초대소; Munsu Guesthouse). In 2015 the recruiting and training of Gippeumjo were administered by the Fifth Department of Staff of the Organic Direction of the Party. The practice was said to have been maintained by Il-sung's son, Kim Jong-il, until his own death in 2011.[2][4]

In April 2015, Kim Jong-un was reportedly seeking new members for his own Gippeumjo, after his father's group of girls was disbanded in December 2011.[1][5][6]

Structure

Each pleasure group is composed of three teams:

  1. Manjokjo (chosŏn'gŭl: 만족조; hancha: 滿足組) – a satisfaction team (which provides sexual services)
  2. Haengbokjo (chosŏn'gŭl: 행복조; hancha: 幸福組) – a happiness team (which provides massages)
  3. Gamujo (chosŏn'gŭl: 가무조; hancha: 歌舞組) – a dancing and singing team (whose members are sometimes asked to dance semi-nude)[7]

Girls from throughout the country are recruited to be Gippeumjo members according to government criteria[8] (one of which is that they must be virgins[9]). After being selected, they undergo a rigorous training period, with some Haengbokjo members being sent overseas for massage training. Gippeumjo members typically leave at age 22 or 25. At that time they are often married to members of North Korea's elite—and are also sometimes paired off with military officers seeking wives—and their former membership in the Gippeumjo is kept secret.[1][3]

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See also

Notes
  1. "North Korea reportedly recruiting women to joint 'pleasure squad' for Kim Jong Un". Fox News. FoxNews.com. 3 April 2015. Archived from the original on 3 May 2017. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  2. Lee, Sunny (28 January 2010). "'Pleasure squad' defector sheds light on life of Kim Jong Il" (World). The National. Retrieved 28 January 2010.
  3. Yoel, Sano (June 4, 2005). "The Kims' North Korea: Under the Loving Care of the Fatherly Leader: North Korea and the Kim Dynasty by Bradley K Martin". Book review. Asia Times. Archived from the original on 24 February 2017. Retrieved 2007-02-08.
  4. Yong, Lee Sang (26 September 2013). "North in Ri Scandal Damage Control". Seoul, South Korea: Daily NK. Retrieved 11 March 2016.
  5. Buchanan, Rose Troup (2 April 2015). "Kim Jong-un reinstates 'pleasure troupe' harem of young women". The Independent. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
  6. Doré, Louis (30 April 2016). "Kim Jong-un is recruiting a 'pleasure squad' of teenage girls". indy100. Retrieved 30 April 2016.
  7. Becker, Jasper (October 11, 2003). "North Korea: At Home With the Kims". Asia Times. Retrieved 2007-02-08.
  8. Demick, Barbara (2009). Nothing to Envy; Ordinary Lives in North Korea. Spiegel and Grau. ISBN 978-0-385-52390-5.
  9. Kim, Suki (14 October 2014). Without You, There Is No Us: My Time with the Sons of North Korea's Elite. New York: Crown Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0307720658.

References
  • Martin, Bradley K. (2004). Under the Loving Care of the Fatherly Leader: North Korea and the Kim Dynasty. New York, New York, United States: Thomas Dunne Books. Hardcover: ISBN 978-0-312-32221-2; Paperback: ISBN 978-0-312-32322-6.
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