Kim Rahn is the managing editor of The Korea Times. Since joining the company in 2003, she has covered various beats including the presidential office, Seoul city government, the Bank of Korea and the tourism industry. In 2014, she won the Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) award for her coverage of the ordeals of migrant women in Korea.
NK silent on heir’s biological mother
By Kim Rahn
The biological mother of North Korean heir Kim Jong-un is Ko Yong-hee, the third wife of the late leader Kim Jong-il.
After announcing Kim Jong-il’s death, the North’s authorities have been worshipping and idolizing the successor, but they are not mentioning Ko.
The silence is very unusual because the communist state highly values the family line of high-ranking officials. It is also contrary to the idolization of Kim Jong-il’s mother who was promoted as “a female general of Mt. Baekdu from a family that fought for Korea’s independence from Japan.”
In North Korea, when assuming a position of power the origins of that person are publicized to emphasize the legitimacy, such as when they joined the Workers’ Party and who their parents are.
Experts say the lack of comments about Ko is based on judgment that Kim Jong-un’s maternal line will not help the heir secure loyalty from the North Korean people, considering his mother’s career and family background.
Ko was born in 1953 in Japan. Her father was Ko Kyong-tae, a native of Jeju Island who was a judoka in Japan. The father took his family to North Korea in early 1960s when tens of thousands of Korean residents in Japan repatriated to there. North Koreans usually look down on such people.
The fact that Ko was the late leader’s third wife also tarnishes the successor’s legitimacy. While working as a dancer at Mansudae Art Troupe, she attracted Kim Jong-il’s affections. They lived together from 1976 until Ko died of cancer in 2004.
It is said that Ko’s love affair with Kim Jong-il may expose the “Dear Leader’s” private life. Even when alive, her existence was barely known to the public. Officially, Kim had only one wife, Kim Young-suk.
During the 30 years of cohabitation, Ko gave birth to two sons, Jong-chol and Jong-un, and a daughter, Yo-jong.
She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1998 and was advised to have her breasts removed, but she chose only to take medication. She reportedly died six years later in France.
It is rumored that she wanted her son Jong-un chosen as successor to Kim Jong-il and hated Jong-un’s half brother, Jong-nam.
Experts predict that, as Jong-un has risen to power, the authorities will idolize the mother anyhow because the maternal line cannot remain forever unmentioned.