Author Archive
Ri Sol-ju Goes Viral: What Social Media Reveal about the DPRK’s First Lady
A great deal of information about North Korea’s first lady is circulating on the Korean-language internet, and Darcie Draudt brings out some of the salient themes.
Ri Sol-ju, Conspicuous Wealth, and the “Military Wife” Type in the DPRK
SinoNK’s analyst for gender issues, Darcie Draudt, takes a look at Ri Sol-ju as part of a class of women who are doing increasingly well, thanks to their connections. Is such upward mobility to be emulated or despised?
Ko Young-hee and Ri Sol-ju: Media (Re)constructions of Kim Jong-un’s Ideal Women
In a new article for the Yonsei Journal of International Studies, Darcie Draudt discusses the extensive construction of “a new kind of DPRK woman” in the age of Ri Sol-ju. Introduction by Steven Denney.
Beautiful Defectors, Part II. Everyday Fashion as Political: Blending into the South Korean Middle Class
Darcie Draudt and Brian Gleason dig deeper into the issue of identity as revealed in a new South Korean variety show that stars female North Korean defectors.
Beautiful Defectors: An Exploration of South Korea’s “Now on My Way to Meet You”
The show “Now on My Way to Meet You” combines comedy and commentary as a way to tap into the South Korean collective conscious and “introduce” the lives of defectors to the public at-large.
Modern, Feminine and Bright: Kim Jong-un’s First Lady
Kim Jong-un’s current persona is being grounded by two female figures: now we see Jong-un is not only a son of a noble Comrade (Go Young-hee), but the husband of one as well. Analysis by Darcie Draudt.
Ko Young-hee: Joseon’s Nameless, Newly Canonized Mother
A sister, lover, or just good friend? As the speculation fury over Kim Jong-un’s plus-one at the recent Moranbong Band performance suggests, it may behoove analysts and North Korea watchers to be pay closer attention to the women accompanying the Great Successor than the man himself. SinoNK’s analyst for Gender Issues, Darcie Draudt, leaves the identity […]
Revolutionized Woman: A Primer on the Historical Rhetoric of Women in the NK Economy
Revolutionized Woman: A Primer on the Historical Rhetoric of Women in the NK Economy by Darcie Draudt This past Friday’s SinoNK weekly digest gave but short shrift to a rather significant working paper released in June of this year. Examining a recent survey of 300 North Korean refugees, Stephan Haggard and Marcus Noland examine the […]
