The 2018 winter Olympic games, held in Pyeongchang, South Korea, have provided an invaluable opportunity to cool down the diplomatic tensions which have threatened to boil over into outright war over the last year. President Donald Trump's hardline stance on North Korea, coupled with the totalitarian state's growing nuclear capacity, has led many to fear the outbreak of actual conflict in the region. However, at the largest sporting event in the world, with athletes from across the globe competing to win gold for their home countries, North Korean representatives have been surprisingly cordial. However, none have provoked more fervent speculation than the North Korean cheerleading squad.

The smiling assembly of 230 women, colloquially dubbed "Kim Jong-un's beauties," outwardly project an image of glamour and positivity that few outsiders would associate with a nation that relies on foreign aid to support its ailing infrastructure. They wear matching uniforms and act in almost complete synchronicity, clapping and cheering from the stands with a military precision, wearing either blood-red wool overcoats with black fur trim or more cheerful blue and red acrylic snowsuits inspired by the colours of the North Korean flag.

The appearance, and sometimes bizarre behaviour, of these propaganda figures has inspired intense media scrutiny and divided commentators. Some see them as a "charm offensive" designed to distract from the Workers' Party's horrific human rights abuses. Others view them as a friendly olive branch extended sincerely to the South and the United States. But is there an even more sinister side to their story, one that's been carefully hidden from the eyes of the watching cameras? A North Korean defector claims that Kim Jong-un's cheerleading team are actually, in private, little better than a squad of hostage sex slaves, who have been repeatedly sexually abused, raped and exploited by the despot and high-ranking members of his politburo.

In a recent interview with Bloomberg, 42-year-old Lee So-yeon, a former military musician who fled to South Korea in 2008, alleged that the cheerleading team, (known to insiders as the "Pleasure Squad") are expected to provide sexual favours on request during trips to the Olympic games and at home.  She stated: "It might seem like a fancy show on the outside [but] they also have to go to parties and provide sexual services ... They go to the central Politburo party’s events, and have to sleep with the people there, even if they don’t want it.”

So-yeon, who now heads the New Korea Women’s Union, (an organisation which helps acclimatise female defectors with PTSD to life in South Korea) added that: "North Korea’s art troupe came here and performed with fancy dances and songs, but not only do they have to be in charge of Kim Jong-un’s propaganda ... 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, like a human rights infringement. The women there, when they attend, they have to undress. They are asked to undress like objects. That’s the physical pain they have to go through."

Their lives are tightly regimented and they are under strict surveillance, indoctrinated from an early age to accept their sexual bondage. In an additional Bloomberg interview, 54-year-old Kim Hyung-soo, who escaped the dictatorship in 2009 with his competitive skier son, stated: "Even the coaches are slaves to Kim Jong-un, and to the North Korean regime ... Because in North Korea, Kim Jong-un and the regime is the entire world ... The cheerleaders, too. They select people who are unlikely to defect, and people with loyal backgrounds. This factor is crucial from a very early stage."

A defector who fled the country in 1982, Lee Il-nam, claimed that the Olympic cheerleading squads are often coerced into attending inner party orgies against their will, where erotic games are commonplace. In his book, "Kim Jong-il’s Royal Family," Il-nam wrote that: "The routine at the parties included eating, drinking and dancing, but usually ended with erotic games. A favourite was a game in which the losers had to take off clothes one by one. It was enforced, regardless of men or women. If they got heavily drunk, they also played a hair-shaving game. If men lost, part of their head hair was shaved, as if it was mown. For women, their pubic hair was shaved."

Despite the abuse these young women suffer, inclusion into the Pleasure Squad is considered by North Koreans to be a great honour. The girls typically come from elite families in Pyongyang and are carefully selected from various performance troupes around the capital. They are expected to commit to months of training before attending an international event, wholly disregarding their existing occupation. Cheerleaders are required to be in their early 20s, good-looking, devoted to the regime, and taller than the minimum height requirement of 160 centimetres (or five foot and three inches). The women are not paid for the services, but are allowed the opportunity to travel overseas, a privilege that very few North Koreans ever afford. Once they retire, the cheerleaders are typically married off to the elite guards or party members and their silence is bought to ensure that reports of their treatment never leak to the public.

At the games themselves, the girls are accompanied at all times by older male chaperones who guard them vigilantly, ensuring that they do not talk to anyone without express permission. When their athletes are competing, their enthusiasm is palpable, particularly when the North Korean team is performing badly. Their rousing, flag-waving chant of "cheer up!" and swaying clapping has already gone viral. Yet, at other times, they appear apathetic and oblivious to their surroundings. In one memorable incident, when four South Korean cheerleaders gyrated to the song Girlfriend by Avril Lavigne, the North Korean cheerleaders responded by drowning them out with their own song with a completely different beat.

We may never know the precise details of what these women are subjected to behind closed doors, but there is no doubt that the cheerleaders represent a powerful propaganda tool for the ruling Kim dynasty. For more disturbing details about the communist autocracy, check out the seven ways that North Korea is exactly like George Orwell's 1984.

Featured illustration by Egarcigu

The 2018 winter Olympic games, held in Pyeongchang, South Korea, have provided an invaluable opportunity to cool down the diplomatic tensions which have threatened to boil over into outright war over the last year. President Donald Trump's hardline stance on North Korea, coupled with the totalitarian state's growing nuclear capacity, has led many to fear the outbreak of actual conflict in the region. However, at the largest sporting event in the world, with athletes from across the globe competing to win gold for their home countries, North Korean representatives have been surprisingly cordial. However, none have provoked more fervent speculation than the North Korean cheerleading squad.

The smiling assembly of 230 women, colloquially dubbed "Kim Jong-un's beauties," outwardly project an image of glamour and positivity that few outsiders would associate with a nation that relies on foreign aid to support its ailing infrastructure. They wear matching uniforms and act in almost complete synchronicity, clapping and cheering from the stands with a military precision, wearing either blood-red wool overcoats with black fur trim or more cheerful blue and red acrylic snowsuits inspired by the colours of the North Korean flag.

The appearance, and sometimes bizarre behaviour, of these propaganda figures has inspired intense media scrutiny and divided commentators. Some see them as a "charm offensive" designed to distract from the Workers' Party's horrific human rights abuses. Others view them as a friendly olive branch extended sincerely to the South and the United States. But is there an even more sinister side to their story, one that's been carefully hidden from the eyes of the watching cameras? A North Korean defector claims that Kim Jong-un's cheerleading team are actually, in private, little better than a squad of hostage sex slaves, who have been repeatedly sexually abused, raped and exploited by the despot and high-ranking members of his politburo.

In a recent interview with Bloomberg, 42-year-old Lee So-yeon, a former military musician who fled to South Korea in 2008, alleged that the cheerleading team, (known to insiders as the "Pleasure Squad") are expected to provide sexual favours on request during trips to the Olympic games and at home.  She stated: "It might seem like a fancy show on the outside [but] they also have to go to parties and provide sexual services ... They go to the central Politburo party’s events, and have to sleep with the people there, even if they don’t want it.”

So-yeon, who now heads the New Korea Women’s Union, (an organisation which helps acclimatise female defectors with PTSD to life in South Korea) added that: "North Korea’s art troupe came here and performed with fancy dances and songs, but not only do they have to be in charge of Kim Jong-un’s propaganda ... 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, like a human rights infringement. The women there, when they attend, they have to undress. They are asked to undress like objects. That’s the physical pain they have to go through."

Their lives are tightly regimented and they are under strict surveillance, indoctrinated from an early age to accept their sexual bondage. In an additional Bloomberg interview, 54-year-old Kim Hyung-soo, who escaped the dictatorship in 2009 with his competitive skier son, stated: "Even the coaches are slaves to Kim Jong-un, and to the North Korean regime ... Because in North Korea, Kim Jong-un and the regime is the entire world ... The cheerleaders, too. They select people who are unlikely to defect, and people with loyal backgrounds. This factor is crucial from a very early stage."

A defector who fled the country in 1982, Lee Il-nam, claimed that the Olympic cheerleading squads are often coerced into attending inner party orgies against their will, where erotic games are commonplace. In his book, "Kim Jong-il’s Royal Family," Il-nam wrote that: "The routine at the parties included eating, drinking and dancing, but usually ended with erotic games. A favourite was a game in which the losers had to take off clothes one by one. It was enforced, regardless of men or women. If they got heavily drunk, they also played a hair-shaving game. If men lost, part of their head hair was shaved, as if it was mown. For women, their pubic hair was shaved."

Despite the abuse these young women suffer, inclusion into the Pleasure Squad is considered by North Koreans to be a great honour. The girls typically come from elite families in Pyongyang and are carefully selected from various performance troupes around the capital. They are expected to commit to months of training before attending an international event, wholly disregarding their existing occupation. Cheerleaders are required to be in their early 20s, good-looking, devoted to the regime, and taller than the minimum height requirement of 160 centimetres (or five foot and three inches). The women are not paid for the services, but are allowed the opportunity to travel overseas, a privilege that very few North Koreans ever afford. Once they retire, the cheerleaders are typically married off to the elite guards or party members and their silence is bought to ensure that reports of their treatment never leak to the public.

At the games themselves, the girls are accompanied at all times by older male chaperones who guard them vigilantly, ensuring that they do not talk to anyone without express permission. When their athletes are competing, their enthusiasm is palpable, particularly when the North Korean team is performing badly. Their rousing, flag-waving chant of "cheer up!" and swaying clapping has already gone viral. Yet, at other times, they appear apathetic and oblivious to their surroundings. In one memorable incident, when four South Korean cheerleaders gyrated to the song Girlfriend by Avril Lavigne, the North Korean cheerleaders responded by drowning them out with their own song with a completely different beat.

We may never know the precise details of what these women are subjected to behind closed doors, but there is no doubt that the cheerleaders represent a powerful propaganda tool for the ruling Kim dynasty. For more disturbing details about the communist autocracy, check out the seven ways that North Korea is exactly like George Orwell's 1984.

Featured illustration by Egarcigu