Kim’s first lady accompanied China visit
A woman believed to be North Korea leader Kim Jong-il's wife accompanied Kim's veiled trip to China, Hankook Ilbo newspaper said Saturday.
Citing Chinese state television CCTV's footage of Kim's visit, the newspaper said North Korea's de facto first lady Kim Ok also likely accompanied Kim during his China trip.
The woman, the Chinese media didn't name, yet clearly made her visible by participating in a banquet on Wednesday night, hosted by Chinese President Hu Jintao, Kim's later meeting with Premier Wen Jiabao, and was also present during Kim's inspection of a high-tech research center in Beijing, it said.
Kim Ok, 46, has been a de facto "first lady" since 2004 when North Korean leader's wife, then Koh Young-hee, died.
Kim Ok, originally trained as a musician in college, previously served as one of Kim Jong-il's personal secretaries.
An intelligence expert told the newspaper: "There was no woman on the official list of the North Korean delegation."
The fact that this woman participated in meetings in China to which only key North Korean officials attended, as well as the fact that she closely resembles Kim Ok in the pictures taken years ago, strongly indicates that she likely was Kim Ok, the newspaper said.