Evil regime to beauty regime: Kim Jong-un moisturising masks are a hit in South Korea

Skincare products featuring the image of the North Korean leader are flying off the shelves in Seoul ahead of a rumoured visit

This may reflect a softening of attitudes in the South – where speaking positively of the North’s government is illegal

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The Kim Jong-un face masks appear in the South Korean press.

Published: 7:46pm, 11 Dec 2018Updated: 7:43am, 12 Dec 2018

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has been called the face of many things over the years: tyranny, despotism, dictatorship. But for some in the South, his image seems more beauty regime than evil regime.

Kim-themed moisturising face masks have been flying off the shelves in South Korea’s beauty-obsessed capital amid growing speculation the North Korean leader will visit Seoul this month.

The “Unification Moisture Nuclear Masks” feature an image of Kim on the packaging and are printed with propaganda-style slogans such as “All hail moisture for all women of the North and South!” and “Baekdu Mountain spring water makes skin strong!”

Manufactured by a South Korean skincare firm called 5149, the masks were launched in June, shortly after the Inter-Korean summits between Kim and his southern counterpart Moon Jae-in.

Since then, according to South Korean media, more than 25,000 of the masks – which cost 4,000 won (US$3.5) each – have been sold.

The masks are widely available at Pierrot Shopping, a discount retailer under Emart, South Korea’s largest retailer.

“Personally, I don’t like merchandise promoting a certain political agenda, and luring consumers to buy it without a clue,” said Irene Kim, a South Korean skincare expert and co-founder of medical tourism company My Seoul Secret. She feared the masks could become propaganda for the North Korean regime, likening them to US President Donald Trump’s Make America Great Again products.