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[flakfizer]

From the Korea Herlald:

Kim Jong-il has new wife: report


North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has reportedly taken his former secretary as a new wife after his purported spouse died of cancer in 2004.

The emergence of Kim's new wife is expected to give a new twist to a power struggle between his sons over who would succeed at the helm of the communist country.

"I heard Kim has been living together with a woman named Kim Ok, who served as his secretary, as Ko Yong-hi died two years ago," Yonhap News Agency quoted a South Korean government source as saying.

She is the de-facto first lady of the North, according to the source.

South Korean officials have not confirmed the report.

Kim Ok, 42, has frequently accompanied the reclusive leader Kim, 64, on his visits to army bases and industrial complexes, and sat with him when he met visiting foreign dignitaries, the source said.

In January, the woman also traveled with Kim when he made a secret visit to China. During the tour, she was given a cordial reception as the North's first lady and exchanged civilities with Chinese leader Hu Jintao, he said.

Kim Ok studied piano at the North's prestigious Pyongyang University of Music and Dance, and began to serve as Kim's private secretary since the early 1980s, another South Korean government source said.

The notorious flirt, Kim, is widely believed to have had three wives, but only the second wife Kim Young-sook was regarded as his official wife. She has given Kim two daughters - Seol-song, 33, and Chun-song, 31.

It's not confirmed whether the new wife gave birth to a son, but sources said, her emergence would influence the selection of the North's next leader, pointing out her long experience in the political arena as Kim's secretary.

The sources especially note that public debates on Kim Jong-il's successor have dissipated in North Korea since Kim Ok became the leader's new wife.

The communist leader is believed to have already nominated a successor among his three sons from his two purported former wives. It has been reported that the three sons and their advocates were engaged in a fierce power struggle in recent years. The eldest son escaped two assassination attempts last year.

They said Kim Jong-il banned any debate on a succession nomination late last year, citing that the North's three-generation hereditary succession could trigger international derisions. They analyzed that the young lady could be behind the leader's new direction because Kim's early appointment of a successor may destabilize her status as the first lady.

Kim Jong-il took over from his father, Kim Il-sung in 1994. It was the North's first hereditary power transfer.

The 25-year-old son Kim Jong-chol, born to the late Ko Yong-hi, is widely favored to be first in line to succeed Kim Jong-il, but he has been said to suffer from a chronic overproduction of female hormones.

The oldest son Kim Jong-nam, 35, is believed to have fallen out of his father's favor when he was caught trying to enter Japan in 2001 on a forged passport. Jong-nam was born to Kim's first purported wife Sung Hae-rim, a former North Korean movie star, who died in 2002.

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By Jin Dae-woong


Now this photo from a former thread makes sense.


http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/korea/viewtopic.php?t=53029&highlight=caption

[gypsyfish]

Awww, that's sweet. I wonder where they are registered ... Grass, Bark, and Beyond?