hankyoreh

July 8. (Yonhap News)

By Park Byong-su, staff reporter

Questions are swirling over the identity of a young woman seen beside North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in video clips released by North Korea’s state broadcaster.

The same unidentified woman sits next to Kim Jong-un as he watches a performance on July 6. The sightings of the woman positioned close to the young North Korean leader has sparked debate over her identity and relation to Kim Jong-un. (Yonhap News) 　

The unidentified woman was seen walking with Jong-un in the first minutes of July 8 and bowing to former North Korean leaders’ portraits in the five-minute video broadcast by North Korea’s Korean Central Television (KCTV). Kim Jong-un was visiting Kumsusan Palace in Pyongyang in honor of the 18th anniversary of Kim Il-sung’s death. Kumsusan is the mausoleum of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il, Jong-un’s grandfather and father, respectively.

In another report released that same day, KCTV showed a video clip of Kim watching a performance by the Moranbong Orchestra. To his right sat a young woman in a two-piece suit with a black blouse and closely cropped hair. Korean People’s Army general political bureau chief Choi Ryong-hae was seated to his left, while National Defense Commission vice chairman and Kim Jong-un’s uncle Jang Sung-taek was shown to the woman’s right.

The image was released on July 7; the performance is believed to have taken place on the previous day.

The South Korean government said she was likely a figure associated with the performance, but experts also raised the possibility that she might be Jong-un’s wife, younger sister, or another family member.

Of particular note is the fact that the woman was seen sitting with one arm on Kim’s armrest. Other top committee members had their arms discreetly on their knees or in their lap. Kim, Choi, and the woman were also the only guests who had a long table placed in front of them. In footage showing them standing and clapping, Choi is seen keeping some distance from the two.

University of North Korean Studies professor Yang Mu-jin said that based on her seating placement, the woman was most likely either Kim’s wife or his younger sister Kim Yo-jong.

Dongguk University professor Koh Yu-hwan agreed with this analysis.

“If she is his wife, then we may expect to see his political approach taking on a fairly open, reformist character going ahead,” Koh added.

Koh said that evidence of this has already been seen in Kim’s public speeches and field guidance and in live event feeds.

A South Korean government official said it was impossible to confirm the woman’s identity, but that the government believes she was a performance official rather than a family member.

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