Pyongyang's MZs Want to Wear 'Luxury Yoga Brand Lululemon'... "But Can't Challenge Kim Jong Un's Regime"

"Like the 16th-century Joseon kingdom
A stark urban-rural wealth gap"

A head of a North Korean aid organization has shared her experience, saying that although she has noticed a different mindset among North Korea's younger generation, there appears to be no movement capable of challenging the regime.

A North Korean magazine promoting the Pyongyang Golf Course. Yonhap News Agency

According to Yonhap News Agency on October 8 local time, Cathy Zellweger, head of the North Korean aid organization Caritas, described changes in North Korea as the "6 Ms" at an event hosted by the Stimson Center to introduce her book, "Miss Kathy."

Zellweger explained that the 6 Ms were "Money, Markets, Mobiles, Motor cars, the Middle class," and "the Mindsets of the younger generation." Born in Switzerland, Zellweger carried out aid work while traveling between North Korea and Hong Kong until the end of 2019, before North Korea closed its borders due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, she said, "I never sensed any overt hostility toward the government among North Koreans," adding, "I felt even less that there was any dissent activity even remotely similar to what existed in China, the former Soviet Union, or Vietnam." She continued, "From a very young age, people are instilled with loyalty to the regime and its leaders. It's like the 16th-century Joseon Kingdom," adding, "A modern Leninist organizational structure and political control are layered on top of that. As a result, challenging the regime becomes almost impossible."

Zellweger said that in Pyongyang, women's shoe heels had grown higher and parasols for sun protection had appeared. She also said that a colleague who had recently visited North Korea was asked by a North Korean to bring back "Lululemon yoga wear." "You can also spot pets on the streets of Pyongyang," she said. However, she added, rural areas remain completely cut off from the outside world, and people there worry only about survival.

While staying in North Korea, Zellweger ran the Pyongyang Business School. She said there was "a strong desire to learn among the younger generation in the city," and that when she went to hotels, she would see all the staff sitting in front of televisions learning Chinese and English. The Pyongyang Business School also taught about capitalist economies, and she recalled being taken aback at first because the concept of "profit" did not exist. She added that instructors could discuss examples from China, Japan, and multinational corporations, but were not allowed to mention South Korean companies.

Zellweger said, "Because North Koreans are fighting on Russia's side in the war in Ukraine, raising funds to support North Korea in Europe has become almost impossible." Regarding humanitarian aid efforts for North Korea by the United States and South Korea, she advised, "If you push too hard, you won't get what you want. Sometimes it's much better to take a step back and wait."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.