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A lady seemingly in her 20s was seen near the new North Korean leader in North Korean TV footage of the funeral service of his father Kim Jong-il, Wednesday, Yonhap News reported Thursday.
Kim Jong-un, vice chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Workers’ Party, was seen paying his last respects to his father accompanied by ranking officials in a video of the funeral service on North Korea Central TV at around 11 p.m. Wednesday.
In additional footage a young woman is seen next to Jong-un’s aunt Kim Kyung-hee, chief of the Light Industry Ministry within the Workers’ Party, along with another lady presumed to be his sister, Kim Yeo-jeong.
The lady entered Gumsusan Memorial Hall, where the body of the late Kim was laid, along with new leader Kim Jong-un, 20-30 top political leaders, several security guards, Kim Kyung-hee and Kim Yeo-jeong, Yonhap News reported.
The lady stands close to vice chairman Kim dressed in black like the two other women who appeared from the outset. She was slender with a stylish hairdo.
The lady, half hidden by a pillar, was looking at Kim Jong-un who was paying respects with his head deeply bowed. She had her hands folded in front of her, unlike the two women who also paid respects to the late Kim.
She was also seen passing alone without hesitation in front of “second man” Chang Sung-thaek and Jong-un’s sister, who were entering the hall.
After watching the footage, North Korean experts presumed that she was the wife of Kim Jong-un, the news agency reported.
No one, except Vice Chairman Kim’s wife, would have dared to pass in front of “second man” Chang Sung-thaek and the younger sister of the new leader in an easy manner.
Rumors have been circulating in the North that Kim Jong-un married a woman who had graduated from Kim Il-sung University last year, Yonhap reported.
It was also circulated that the lady could be Kim Seol-song, 37, or Kim Chun-song, 35, who were born between the late Kim and his second wife Kim Young-suk, an expert said.
But he added that it is highly unlikely for half sisters to show up at the funeral service in the North Korean political climate which bans those not belonging to the main family line from attending such an important event.
Other experts presume that the lady may be a personal secretary of the junior Kim.
No one beats the personal secretary of the top leader in the North in terms of power.
Kim Ok, the fourth wife of the late Kim Jong-il, was a personal secretary of the late Kim.
