Kim Kyong-hui, wife of Jang Song-thaek who was executed last year, is now staying in Europe, Japan’s Yomiuri Shimbun reported Thursday.
Kim, who is aunt of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, left the North after Jang’s death, for Switzerland, the newspaper said quoting sources familiar with North Korea affairs.
Kim allegedly moved to Poland after then. In Poland, Kim Pyong-il, half-brother of late leader Kim Jong-il, is serving as North Korean ambassador. Kim’s whereabouts has been the target of attention after the previous No. 2 man of the reclusive nation was suddenly purged.
A source raised the possibility that Kim might have been expatriated. Or it is also possible that she voluntarily left the nation. “If she had left the North for mere medical treatment, she will return soon. But it is likely that she will stay overseas for a long period,” a source told the newspaper.
A Korean government source earlier said Kim has been suffering from alcoholic addiction and began to suffer another disease in her foot from September last year. To cure the disease, she visited Russia at that time.