A North Korean pop star was spotted with Kim Jong-un amid rumors she is his secret love and gave birth to his love child.
Having left her role in North Korea’s first female group, the Moranbong Band, Hyon Song-wol now works in the dictator’s personal secretariat.
Last week, she was spotted with Kim in Pyongyang, where she was seen glued to her phone while other aides frantically took notes.
Now a retired spymaster says their relationship is more than professional and that she and the despot have a love child.
Choe Su-yong, formerly in neighboring South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS), said the child’s name was Kim Il-bong.
North Korean pop star (circled) spotted with Kim Jong-un amid rumors she is his secret love and gave birth to his love child
Having left her role in North Korea’s first female group, the Moranbong Band, Hyon Song-wol (circled) now works in the dictator’s personal secretariat.
Choe recently told The Korea Times that Kim Jong-un also had a legitimate son with his wife, Ri Sol-ju, but that the boy was too “pale and skinny” for public life.
Speaking to the Chosun Ilbo newspaper, he described the contrast between the half-brothers.
He said: “The illegitimate son, Kim Il-bong, is sturdy, but the first son born to Kim’s wife is thin to the point of being described in North Korean terms as pitiful. »
According to the ex-spy, Kim Jong-un met Hyon Song-wol while he was still at school in Switzerland.
Choe said Hyon served the future tyrant and his sister, Kim Yo-jong, as a nanny and caretaker, but that a relationship formed and continued when they returned to North Korea.
Kim’s father and predecessor, Kim Jong-il, disapproved of the match and ordered him to end it, according to a 2012 South Korean report.
But after his father died, “the son is believed to have rekindled the relationship,” the report said.
Michael Madden, founder of North Korea Leadership Watch, said there was good reason to believe the duo first bonded in Switzerland.
He said: “One thing we can say, I think, with a pretty good degree of confidence in its accuracy is that they had a close relationship when he was studying in Switzerland.”
“What ultimately happened was that members of these elite performing arts troupes went to sort of live in the house with them, and took care of them.
“There is a very good chance that Hyon Song-wol resided with Kim Jong-un and Kim Yo-jong when they lived in Switzerland, or went to visit them.”
“We can say quite reliably that they have a very close relationship,” he added.
Choe Su-yong, formerly of the National Intelligence Service (NIS) in neighboring South Korea, said Kim shared an illegitimate child with singer Hyon Song-wol.
Hyon Song-wol (left) is seen with Kim Jong Un during a public event in Korea
Hyon Song-wol stands behind Kim Jong Un and his daughter Kim Ju-ae at a recent New Year’s event in Korea
Mr Madden – a fellow at the Stimson Center in Washington DC – said the origins of the love child rumors date back to 2012, when Hyon performed on stage while pregnant.
And although he is skeptical of the rumors, he believes that a historic meeting between the two could have taken place.
He said: “If Hyon Song-wol has a love child and is a mistress, that would cause scandal to Kim Jong-un, right?
“So why would he bring her out in a public capacity?”
He continued, “The only thing I’ve heard that might have some degree of credibility, because it’s more nuanced, is that there’s a rumor that Hyon Song-wol might have taken virginity by Kim Jong-un.”
However, he added: “Who the hell knows?
Mr. Madden estimated that Hyon was about seven years older than Kim.
She would have had a high security clearance, he explained, because her music career would have required her to perform at “secret elite functions.”
He said: “She is an elite pop star in North Korea. I compared her to Lana Del Rey.
Today, she is deputy director of the state’s propaganda and agitation department, although her real job is working directly under the dictator.
Mr Madden said: “She works for Kim Jong-un’s personal secretariat.
“The personal secretariat is equivalent to the Prime Minister’s staff who work at Number 10 Downing Street and who are not part of the civil service.
“She coordinates his schedule, his protocol, his security arrangements, things like that.
“It also appears to play a very, very important role in North Korean television events and media packaging.”
As for Kim’s wife, Ri Sol-ju, very little is known about her, including her exact age, who her parents are, and what her life was like before marrying Kim.
This photo taken on November 18, 2022 and released by the official Korean News Agency (KCNA) shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (left) with his wife Ri Sol Ju (second from right) and daughter Ju Ae ( second from left). they witness the test firing of the new ‘Hwasong Gun 17’ type intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in North Korea
Even her name remains a mystery, as observers believe Ri is actually a pseudonym designed to keep her pre-marital life a secret.
She was first photographed on Kim’s arm in 2012 at a concert and North Korea later confirmed she was Kim’s wife, but said nothing else about her.
She then appeared alongside him on several occasions between 2012 and 2014 before largely disappearing from public view until recently, where her presence became much more pronounced.
Sources speaking to South Korean media when she was first identified said she was a former cheerleader and singer, and gave her date of birth as between 1985 and 1989.
She was reportedly photographed in 2005 visiting South Korea during the Asian Athletics Championships as part of the North Korean cheerleading team.
Others said she was a singer with the Unhasu Orchestra and may have performed for Kim and his father, Kim Jong-il, at a New Year’s concert in 2010.
“It is possible that Jong-un chose her as his wife after seeing her at the concert hall,” the Chosun Ilbo newspaper said at the time.
There was a North Korean singer named Ri Sol-ju, the BBC reported, but it was never confirmed whether she and Kim’s wife were the same person.
Separately, the BBC reported that Ri was hastily married to Kim in 2009 as part of a succession plan drawn up by Kim Jong-il after he suffered a stroke.
She is believed to have given birth to their first child the following year, with subsequent births occurring in 2013 and possibly 2016, after she disappeared from public view.
According to American basketball star Dennis Rodman, who is an unlikely friend of Kim’s, their middle child is named Ju-ae, after he blurted out the information in an interview.
Nothing is known about the other children.
Before marrying Kim, Ri was reportedly sent to Kim Il-sung University, the country’s most prestigious, to complete a six-month course to become first lady.
It was also reported that she had earned a science degree from the same university years earlier.
According to a previous AFP report, Ri was born in the northeastern province of North Hamkyong to an academic father and a doctor mother.
This would bring her into the political elite, since these positions are reserved only for those most loyal to the regime.
She is also said to be related to Ri Pyong-chol, a former air force general and close advisor to Kim Jong-un.
Ri is also known for her love of fashion, which is unusual in North Korea.
This photo taken on February 8, 2023 and published by the official Korean News Agency (KCNA) shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (right), his daughter Ju Ae (center) and his wife Ri Sol Ju (at left) participating in a military ceremony. parade celebrating the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Korean People’s Army
When she was first profiled by the national press, she was said to be wearing “an elegant black suit in the Chanel tradition” and to have once given a Dior bag to Kenji Fujimoto, Kim’s sushi chef Jong-il.
Fujimoto claimed to have met her and described her as “just so charming…I can’t describe her voice, it’s so sweet…”.
South Korean diplomats who traveled to the North for talks with Kim Jong-un recently said Ri had joined him at the negotiating table.
They said the pair were an affectionate couple and “seemed equal”.
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