Propaganda to Perfection: The Politics of Beauty in the Two Koreas

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Propaganda to Perfection: The Politics of Beauty in the Two Koreas 

Lila Obrowski

25-2 Yonsei PSCORE

State Variants of Beauty: Korean Women’s Beauty

Beauty standards on both sides of the Korean Peninsula hold women; beauty is deeply politicized, but in opposite ways. In the South, appearance reflects individual freedom and social capital; while in the North, it represents ideological conformity and state-defined virtue. When examining these together, the contrasting ideals reveal how each state uses gender and appearance as tools of power, identity, and resistance across the divided Korea. In the Koreas, beauty is not merely an aspect of development within cultural standards, but also a social mechanism used to further politics and power dynamics, shaped by history. 

While the South has transformed beauty into both a segment of global influence and a signal of one’s capacity for domestic success. The North, in contrast, has weaponized beauty standards as a visual symbol of collectivism, contributing to regime loyalty and submission. Examining the contrasting ideals of beauty in the two Koreas reveals how women’s bodies are not only upheld to great standards in social realms, but can also be used as a tool for enforcing politically based narratives. For the women who leave North Korea, and integrate into South Korean society, their struggles do not end with the common issues brought on by defection. Women must take another step further, facing the adjustment, seeking new autonomy, freed from moral control, yet facing a new challenge: market-driven conformity.

From Proper to Perfection: North and South

In North Korea, rather than aesthetics, the regime views a woman’s ability to maintain her livelihood as a more valuable form of beauty. As a result, the country’s propaganda often talks of women like ‘Lady Kang Ban Seok’ (Mother of Kim Il Sung) or ‘Kim Jong Suk’ as being the “ideal role models, as women who know how to care for their family and their nation, without caring too much about beauty (Kim 2012). North Korean women are inseparable from state-set ideology. Women are first devoted to the Kim family, due to the tight reign on its citizens, before even considering individual physicality. The ideal North Korean woman is portrayed as modest, natural, and devoted to the collective, where her worth is defined not by individuality, but by her contribution to the nation’s moral order (Song 2015). State media frequently associates natural beauty with purity and loyalty to the regime, while foreign influences such as dyed hair, makeup, or Western clothing are condemned (Kim 2012). Women are subject to follow explicit looks, with dress codes and hairstyle restrictions as symbols of loyalty. Non-approved styles, especially Western, or even visible cosmetics, are condemned, and associated with personal adornment of capitalist corruption (Ko 2020). ​​

Across the border, beauty continues to hold significant weight on the women of society. However, the South proceeds in a much different form than the North: lookism. The high importance placed on beauty for South Korean women reflects just how significant, yet opposite, women’s lives are in the two Koreas. Whilst South Korean beauty allows freedom through agency and autonomy, the social pressure it proposes manifests itself as a different form of repression on women. Studies show that for many South Korean women, appearance directly influences employability, social standing, and perceived competence. This societal competition has deeply impacted society, with cosmetic surgery becoming widely accepted as a necessary investment for success (Park, Myers, & Langstein, 2019). In this sense, the South portrays its own form of ideological conformity, with women’s appearance again being dictated by a force outside of themselves. In this way, it seems both states dictate women’s value, based on their appearances, only differing in the execution.

Beauty in Resistance and Reclamation

Despite the state’s control in the North and the market’s pressure in the South, women across the peninsula continuously find ways to reclaim agency through appearance. In North Korea, these acts take shape as subtle defiance, as women creatively navigate fashion regulations, developing their own styles, and getting makeup through informal markets, a subtle attempt at gaining autonomy. Such everyday acts of self-presentation are not simply aesthetic choices, but forms of agency that challenge how far they can move from the boundaries of obedience. Similarly, in the South, women confront a different form of regulation: the commodification of beauty through capitalism. Media portrayals and the K-beauty industry reinforce “lookism,” shaping how success and worth are perceived through appearance. Studies show that for many South Korean women, appearance is considered a pivotal factor in professional achievement and social standing (Park, Myers, & Langstein, 2019). Yet even within this system, resistance against lookism is emerging, revealing how South Korean women also challenge the notion that their worth depends on a visual representation (​​McCurry 2018).

Conclusion: Struggles Between Two Systems

Women from the North face beauty in the form of obedience; while the women from the South are pressured to conform. Both sides of the peninsula propose some performance of what it means to be a woman in their society. The contrast between beauty in North and South Korea illustrates how gender, ideology, and power can intertwine. In the North, beauty is controlled by the state; in the South, by the market. For Korean women, beneath the propaganda, policies, and social standards, lies a common innate desire: the right to be seen not as a reflection of an idea based on gender, but as an individual.

References

Kim, J. Y. (2012, December 12). Looking pretty in North Korea. NK News. 

https://www.nknews.org/2012/12/looking-pretty-in-north-korea

Park, S., & Cho, Y. (2019). Beliefs and trends of aesthetic surgery among South Korean 

young adults. Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Global Open, 7(12), e2543. 

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6882691/

Song, J. (2015). Human rights discourse in North Korea: Changes and challenges. 

Routledge.

McCurry, J. (2018, October 26). Escape the corset: South Korean women rebel against strict 

beauty standards. The Guardian. 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/oct/26/escape-the-corset-south-korean-women-rebel-against-strict-beauty-standards

Ko, Stella. CNN Style. (2020, November 9). North Korea: Women’s beauty is an act of 

protest. CNN. https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/north-korea-womens-beauty-freedom