54.3 F
Los Angeles
Wednesday, February 12, 2025

Kim Jong-un’s sister married to ‘tall and handsome’ military officer husband

- Advertisement -

Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, has been married to a “tall” and “handsome” husband since at least September 2014, and the children who recently appeared alongside her in North Korean state media are “likely her own,” a high-ranking North Korean defector disclosed Wednesday.

Ryu Hyun-woo, who served as North Korea’s acting ambassador to Kuwait and escaped North Korea in 2019, told the JoongAng Ilbo, an affiliate of the Korea JoongAng Daily, that he personally met Kim Yo-jong’s family in September 2014 at the tomb of Ko Yong-hui, the mother of the Kim siblings, during a visit with his father-in-law, Jon Il-chun.

The report marks the first time a former senior North Korean official has provided a firsthand account of Kim’s personal life, which has been shrouded in secrecy for years.
Jon, a key figure in North Korea’s financial network and former director of Office 39 — an agency managing the ruling family’s slush funds — introduced Ryu to Kim.

 

Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, is seen walking with children toward outdoor tables at Pyongyang’s May Day Stadium during a New Year’s celebratory performance, as aired by Korean Central Television on Jan. 1. [YONHAP]

Ryu recalled that Kim’s husband was “dressed in a military uniform” and “about 180 centimeters [5 feet, 11 inches] tall and handsome.” He confirmed that the man was the same individual he had seen in Kim’s wedding photos, which his father-in-law had shown him earlier.

According to Ryu, at the time of their meeting, Kim’s husband was serving as a deputy director in the Corps Guidance Department of the General Political Bureau of the North Korean military. He also revealed that Kim had met her husband through a six-month special course at Kim Il Sung University.

Kim appeared at a New Year’s Eve event on Dec. 31, 2024, holding hands with a young boy and alongside a girl, in footage North Korea’s state-run Korean Central Television (KCTV) aired the next day. The event was attended by many top North Korean officials and their families.

“I cannot confirm the boy, but the girl appears to be around the same age as the daughter I know Kim has,” Ryu said regarding the KCTV footage.

 

Kim Yo-jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, delivers a speech in August 2022. [YONHAP, KCNA]

South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) backed the possibility on Jan. 3, saying that given the estimated ages of Kim’s known offspring, it was conducting a “detailed analysis” to verify whether the children in the video were indeed hers.

Reports from the NIS suggest she may have given birth at least twice. In April 2015, the NIS informed the National Assembly’s Intelligence Committee that Kim’s “stomach is growing” and that she was expected to “give birth in May of that year.” The NIS speculated that her husband might be a “fellow graduate of Kim Il Sung University.”

Further speculation arose in February 2018, when Kim visited South Korea as part of Pyongyang’s high-ranking delegation for the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics. She appeared to be in the late stages of pregnancy and was reported to have given birth later that year.

North Korea has never officially confirmed her marital status, pregnancies or childbirth.

BY CHUNG YEONG-GYO, PARK HYUN-JU [seo.jieun1@joongang.co.kr]