The Winter Olympics Games which started on February 9, 2018 is showcasing a strange and intriguing aspect of how North Korea manages and controls publicity. And also, how it uses its female population or women to propagate agenda and show a false sense of pride to the world. The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea has only sent 10 athletes to this year’s Winter Olympics but their fanatic support crowd of 230 North Korean cheerleaders far outnumber their players.

A Picture of the North Korea's Cheerleaders Also Known as "Army of Beauties" (Photo Credit: Twitter/XHNews)

The North Korean cheerleaders are also called as the “Army of Beauties.” Now, that’s not a beautiful term at all because at the heart of it lies deceit and treachery. Twitter world and twitterati have rightly called this bluff and some hard-hitting tweets have been fired at the North’s dictator who seems unreasonably proud of the nuclear arsenal at his disposal and derives pleasure out of threatening the world in general and US in particular.

North Korea's Cheerleaders arrive in South Korea on February 7 to Support Their Small Team. They Far Outnumber the Players From Their Country. (Getty Images)

The New Yorker writer Jia Tolentino, writing about the cheerleaders phenomena in North Korea has written that, "Today, ironically, North Korea may be the nation that gives cheerleaders the most credit, in a way. The squad is supposed to have incredible power—but that power is directly connected to the degree to which the girls appear under control." This statement holds true in the land of dictator Kim Jong Un, who is known for his ruthless grip over his country and rules North Korea as per his own whims and fancies. It also points toward the ugly fact that the totalitarian state is employing to cover-up for the extravagance of it's leader: That of using young women for state propaganda and disguising it as "support for national athletes". Sports is known to promote good spirit and trust among many other things, but in this case, it is revealing the strange and baffling character of a nation which is both nervous and clueless under Kim Jong- un. Even sports is not spared as a tool for state propaganda in North Korea.

Reports in the past have suggested that the "Army of Beauties" members have to undergo strict background verification and screening process in order to get entry in the army. Loyalty and obedience to the 'supreme leader' is the primary qualification that any of these women have to possess. They are handpicked from universities and are judged on their sense of music and other social factors. The women often stand out of the crowd in their matching travel outfits that look like fur-trimmed scarlet coats matched by fur hats and ankle boots.

The cheerleaders team is widely covered in the world media and has been grabbing considerable attention. One wonders if this is one of many strategic tools used by Kim Jong- un to divert or arrest world's attention. Remember, this is the same North Korea that had employed huge number of professional mourners at the funeral of Kim Jong- il , the father of Kim Jong- un and former dictator who has been widely credited with pushing North Korea in isolation from the world in his regime. Using such tricks to create spectacle and generate publicity isn't something new to North Korea. That it is using the citizens of the country to do it is what's disturbing and absurd.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 10, 2018 01:23 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).