- Hyon Song-wol has been rumoured to have had a secret love child with Kim
- The former singer now works in the dictator's personal secretariat
A North Korean pop star has been spotted out with Kim Jong-un amid rumours that she's his secret flame and gave birth to his love child.
Having left her role in North Korea's premier girl 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 the other aides frantically took notes.
Now a retired spymaster says that their relationship is more than professional, and that she and the despot have a love child.
Choe Su-yong, formerly of the National Intelligence Service (NIS) in neighbouring South Korea, said the child was named Kim Il-bong.
Choe recently told the Korea Times that Kim Jong-un also has a legitimate son with his wife, Ri Sol-ju, but the boy is too 'pale and thin' 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 skinny to the extent of being described in North Korean terms as pitiful.'
According to the ex-spy, Kim Jong-un met Hyon Song-wol when he was still at school in Switzerland.
Choe said that Hyon served the future tyrant and his sister, Kim Yo-jong, as a nanny-cum-caretaker, but a relationship formed and continued on their return to North Korea.
Kim's father and predecessor, Kim Jong-il, disapproved of the match and ordered him to break it off, according to a South Korean report from 2012.
But after his father's death, 'the son is thought to have rekindled the relationship' the report said.
Michael Madden, founder of North Korea Leadership Watch, said there was good reason to believe that the duo first bonded in Switzerland.
He said: 'One thing we can say, I think, with a fairly good degree of confidence in its accuracy, is that they had a close relationship when he was studying in Switzerland.
'What ended up happening was that members of these elite performing arts troupes went and sort of lived in the house with them, and looked after and took care of them.
'There's a very good chance that Hyon Song-wol might have resided with Kim Jong-un and Kim Yo-jong when they lived in Switzerland, or she might have gone to visit them.'
'We can say pretty reliably that they have a very close relationship,' he added.
Mr Madden – a fellow of the Stimson Center in Washington DC – said the genesis of the love child rumours went back to 2012, when Hyon performed on stage pregnant.
And while he's sceptical of the rumours, he believes a historic tryst between the two could have happened.
He said: 'If Hyon Song-wol has a love child and is a mistress, that would bring scandal to Kim Jong-un, right?
'So why would he be bringing her out in any kind of public capacity?'
He continued: 'The one thing I have heard that might have a degree of credibility, because it's more nuanced, is there's a rumour that Hyon Song-wol might have taken Kim Jong-un's virginity.'
However, he added: 'Who the f*** knows?'
Mr Madden estimated that Hyon was about seven years older than Kim.
She would have had a high security clearance, he said, because her music career would have obliged her to perform at 'elite secret functions'.
He said: 'She's an elite pop star in North Korea. I've likened to her to Lana Del Rey.'
Today she is a deputy director in the state's Propaganda and Agitation Department, though 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 that works in Number 10 Downing Street that's not part of the civil service.
'She coordinates his schedule, protocol, security arrangements, things like that.
'She also seems to play a very, very large 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.
Even her name remains a mystery, as observers believe Ri is actually a pseudonym designed to keep her life before marriage a secret.
She was first pictured on Kim's arm in 2012 at a concert and North Korea subsequently confirmed she was Kim's wife, but said nothing else about her.
She then appeared with him multiple times between 2012 and 2014 before largely disappearing from public view until recent, when her presence has became much more pronounced.
Sources speaking in the South Korean media when she was first identified said she is a former cheerleader and singer, and gave her date of birth as some time between 1985 and 1989.
She was said to have been pictured in 2005 visiting South Korea during the Asian Athletics Championships as part of the North Korean cheerleading squad.
Others said she was a singer with the Unhasu orchestra who may have performed for Kim and his father, Kim Jong-il, during a New Year concert in 2010.
'There is a possibility 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 by the name of Ri Sol-ju, the BBC reported, but it has never been confirmed if she and Kim's wife are the same person.
Elsewhere, 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.
It is believed she gave birth to their first child the following year with subsequent births taking place in 2013 and possibly in 2016, after she disappeared from public.
According to US basketball star Dennis Rodman, who is an unlikely friend of Kim, their middle child is called Ju-ae, after he let the information slip 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 study a six-month course in being the first lady.
It has also been reported that she obtained a science degree from the same university years earlier.
According to a past AFP report, Ri was born in the northeastern province of North Hamkyong to an academic father and a doctor mother.
That would make her part of the political elite, since such positions are reserved only for those who are most loyal to the regime.
She is also said to be related to Ri Pyong-chol, a former air force general and close advisor of Kim Jong-un.
Ri is also known for her love of fine fashion, which is unusual in North Korea.
When she was first described by the country's press she was said to be wearing 'a trim black suit in the Chanel tradition' and once gifted a Dior bag to Kenji Fujimoto, Kim Jong-il's sushi chef.
Fujimoto claimed to have met her and described her as 'just so charming... I cannot describe her voice, it's so soft...'.
South Korean diplomats who travelled to the North for talks with Kim Jong-un recently said Ri joined him at the negotiating table.
They said the pair were an affectionate couple and 'seemed equal'.
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2024-04-12 08:30:52Z
CBMiXmh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmRhaWx5bWFpbC5jby51ay9uZXdzL2FydGljbGUtMTMzMDAzNjcvS2ltLUpvbmctVW5zLXNlY3JldC1sb3Zlci1IeW9uLVNvbmctd29sLmh0bWzSAWJodHRwczovL3d3dy5kYWlseW1haWwuY28udWsvbmV3cy9hcnRpY2xlLTEzMzAwMzY3L2FtcC9LaW0tSm9uZy1VbnMtc2VjcmV0LWxvdmVyLUh5b24tU29uZy13b2wuaHRtbA
