North Korean leader to select new 'pleasure troupe' of young women

SEOUL, April 2 (UPI) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has instructed that a new "pleasure troupe" of young women be selected to entertain him at various private villas, four years after he disbanded a group of women loyal to his father, Kim Jong Il.

The selection of young women, typically in their teens to their early 20s, is a tradition for the North Korean leadership that began during the reign of Kim Il Sung, the current leader's grandfather.

Kim Jong Un, who is currently married, was reportedly receiving guidance from Choe Ryong Hae, a top military official.

South Korea's Chosun Ilbo reported Choe had encouraged Kim to frequently rest in countryside villas serviced by attractive young women in 2014, when Kim was receiving treatment for leg injuries.

Choe would often separate Kim from his wife, Ri Sol Ju, during Kim's period of recuperation.

The women are typically selected for their height – five feet and seven inches, at minimum.

The Telegraph reported Thursday the move comes after the end of an official three-year mourning period for Kim Jong Il.

Toshimitsu Shigemura, a professor at Waseda University in Japan, said the women who entertained the previous Kims knew "many secrets" about North Korea's most powerful family.

The women who were asked to resign had to pledge not to reveal any information about their experience as entertainers once they had left the elite compounds of the Kims, Shigemura said.

In return, each woman was granted a severance of $4,000, he said. Women who served as housekeepers received half that amount, the Chosun Ilbo reported.

North Korea's notorious "pleasure troupes" are created through a selection process. The Kim family's officials are assigned to scout for the most attractive women to serve as dancers or singers. The most prized women were forced to become concubines to the elite, The Telegraph reported.

The Chosun Ilbo reported past members of North Korea's "pleasure troupe" served in the luxury-laden Ryongsong Residence near Pyongyang, the official residence of Kim Jong Un. Other women will be assigned to work in summer villas.

Expectations are North Korean officials will handpick hundreds of young women.