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North Korea’s Winter Olympics cheerleaders are being ‘forced into sexual slavery’

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A North Korean defector has claimed that the cheerleaders are being forced into sexual slavery. Photo: Reuters

Members of the North Korean cheerleading squad that charmed Winter Olympics viewers are being forced into sex slavery by the country’s top politicians, a defector from the country has said.

“North Korea’s art troupe came here and performed with dances and songs, and it might seem like a fancy show on the outside,” Lee So-yeon, who was a musician in the North Korean military until she fled in 2008, told Bloomberg.

“But not only do they have to be in charge of promoting Kim Jong-un’s propaganda, they also have to go to parties and provide sexual services.”

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North Korean cheerleaders attend the Czech Republic Vs. South Korea ice hocket game at the Winter Olympics. Photo: Reuters
North Korean cheerleaders attend the Czech Republic Vs. South Korea ice hocket game at the Winter Olympics. Photo: Reuters

Lee said that the parties are held “every day” by members of the Central Politburo, and “even if they don’t want this, they have to serve with their bodies, like a human rights infringement.

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“The women there, when they attend, they have to undress. They’re asked to undress, like objects. That’s the physical pain they have to go through.”

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