Who are Kim Jong-un’s mysterious children?
As rumours swirl about the secretive North Korean dictator’s health, the world’s gaze has settled on his three children.
He is one of the most secretive leaders in the world and in typical fashion, Kim Jong-un’s latest foray into the spotlight has been plagued by mystery and uncertainty.
Last week, the dictator, who has led North Korea since 2011, was back in the headlines, with reports simultaneously suggesting he was gravely unwell, dead, or completely fine.
Initial reports out of the US suggested Jong-un was close to death after a botched heart surgery, leading the North Korean government to release a statement insisting the Supreme Leader was “alive and well”.
Whatever the truth, the saga has led to increased scrutiny on who would succeed the leader were he to die – and the answer is anything but straightforward.
Kim Jong-un, who was named as leader by his father in 2011, has never named a successor.
But very little is actually known about the Kim dynasty and its family members.
THE KIM DYNASTY
Secrecy surrounds the Kim dynasty and the family members within it, and known “facts” are mostly released by the state.
Kim Jong-un was married to a woman named Ri Sol-ju sometime between 2009 and 2010.
Different media reports suggest Ri Sol-ju is both a former cheerleader and a former singer, who went on to become a graduate student who was gaining her PhD in science at the time of their wedding.
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But even these basic “facts” about Ri Sol-ju are disputed, with some reports claiming she had been given a fake name and that she was a decoy bride used to embed family members into the higher echelons of power in the government.
While her identity is up for debate, Ri Sol-ju’s title has been firmed up in recent years. State media, who previously used to refer to her as “comrade”, began calling her “First Lady” in 2018.
KIM JONG-UN’S CHILDREN
The Leader of North Korea is believed to have had at least three children with his wife Ri Sol Ju, the youngest born in 2017.
The eldest is a boy born in 2009, making him around 10 years old now, likely dashing any hopes of a direct descendant immediately assuming the leadership in the near future.
The second child is rumoured to have been born in 2013 and is believed to be a girl.
Dennis Rodman, a former NBA player claimed in an interview with the Guardian that during a visit to the country in 2013 he held the dictator's daughter. He told the publication her named was Ju Ae.
South Korean intelligence reports suggest the youngest child was born in 2017, according to the BBC. It is not known if the third child is a boy or a girl.
Historically, North Korean leaders are groomed to overtake the country — Kim Jong-un’s father Kim Jong-il was trained for two decades for the role, and Kim Jong-un himself was given just over a year to prepare after his father became ill and later died.
WHY IS THE KIM DYNASTY SO SECRETIVE?
Kim Jong-un himself had never been mentioned publicly in the country’s state media until 2010, when he was unveiled at the age of 26, as part of a succession plan.
By then, leader Kim Jong-il was gravely unwell, having suffered a stroke.
When Kim Jong-un was unveiled to the public, he was touted as an academic and skiing enthusiast, and it was widely reported he’d been educated abroad. Most things about him were then, and remain to this day, a mystery – even his birthday has not been confirmed, and is only estimated to be somewhere between 1983 and 1984.
Kim Jong-il, his father, was also highly elusive and is rumoured to have had as many as four wives and fathered five children — three boys and two girls.
WHO IS NEXT IN LINE?
KIM YO JONG
Kim Jong-un’s younger sister Kim Yo Jong is tipped to be the most likely to next assume the leadership of North Korea.
Yo Jong, believed to be 31, is reportedly extremely close with her brother.
The pair is rumoured to have attended school together in Switzerland in the 1990s. She is also responsible for much of his unique image as a leader; as he sought to “modernise” the country during his rule, she worked as vice director of the propaganda and agitation department.
In recent years she has climbed the ranks through the party and is now serving in various official capacities and is unofficially functioning as the Chief of Staff to Kim Jong-un, according to reports.
She is, according to Al Jazeera, now the vice director of the ruling Worker’s Party’s Central Committee, as well as an alternate member of the party’s Central Committee Politburo. The positions give her control over numerous government functions and have already given her a firm grip on power.
"Kim Yo Jong will be for the time being the main power base with control of the organisation and guidance department, the judiciary and public security," said Cho Han-bum of the Korea Institute for National Unification, a South Korean national think tank.
Another researcher suggested Kim Jong Yo may be put in place as a caretaker leader while Kim Jong-un’s children are readied for the position.
OTHER ESTRANGED MEMBERS OF THE KIM DYNASTY
The leader’s older brother Kim Jong-chol has not been involved in the leadership of North Korea for some time, and is reportedly pursuing a quiet life in music.
Since his father’s death in 2011 he’s been seen numerous times at Eric Clapton concerts.
He is not likely to re-enter the race for the leadership but reports suggest he maintains ties with his siblings, and could have a role in future events.
Kim Kyong Hui, the daughter of the country’s founder Kim Il-sung, was previously a powerful figure who moved in the inner circles of leadership in the country.
Rumours of her death circulated in 2013, after her husband was executed during a purge by Kim Jong-un. However, she suddenly reappeared in January of this year, ending speculation she’d also been executed during the purges.
The appearance was largely believed to be a sign of family unity.
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