Among the many mysteries surrounding North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, the secrecy surrounding his mother stands out especially.
Kim has never publicly mentioned her by name in his 15 years in power.
The legitimacy of the hereditary dictatorship is based on the lineage of Mount Paektu, named after the highest mountain on the Korean Peninsula, celebrated as the mythological place of origin of the Korean people. It is also the place where the country’s founder, Kim Il-sung, carried out guerrilla activities against the Japanese colonizers.
Unlike the two previous mothers in the regime’s bloodline—Kang Pan Sok, mother of the country’s founder Kim Il-sung, and Kim Jong-suk, mother of Kim Jong-il—both revered as the “mothers of Korea,” Ko Yong-hui is a little-known figure and nothing exists named in her honor.
This secrecy around Ko Yong-hui could be due to what is considered a contested social origin and her status as a lover, factors that, according to analysts, could threaten the regime.
According to what biographers have been able to reconstruct, Ko was born in Osaka, Japan, in 1952, to parents originally from the island of Jeju, in what is now South Korea, a territory considered enemy.
As residents of Japan, Ko’s family belonged to the so-called Koreans zainichiimmigrants who remained in Japan during the period of Japanese colonial rule over the Korean Peninsula between 1910 and 1945.
At first, those returning to North Korea were viewed with envy because they brought money, clothes and appliances from the capitalist neighbor.
However, they were also labeled as jjaepoa derogatory term used for a group considered contaminated by foreign and dangerous ideologies.
Within North Korea’s strict social classification, known as songbunthe Koreans zainichi They belong to the so-called “hesitant class”, located between the central class and the hostile class.
They are subject to intense state surveillance and are often denied access to good universities or promising jobs.
North Korea is a deeply hierarchical society that some analysts say resembles a caste system.
It is also a “guilt by association system,” where citizens are punished for the actions of their relatives, says Dr. Jeung Younger-tae of Dongyang University.
The story of “Cinderella”
When he was about 10 years old, Ko’s family immigrated to North Korea.
His family was among the approximately 93,000 Koreans who moved from Japan to the communist state between 1959 and 1984 under the campaign called “Paradise on Earth,” a program that promised returnees an idyllic life with free health care, education, and employment.
However, Ko managed to escape the life of hardship and poverty that awaited many other Koreans. zainichi after catching the attention of then-leader Kim Jong-il.
Although Kim never publicly introduced a wife or partner, intelligence services indicate that he was already married to Kim Younger Sook, daughter of a senior military official, in a marriage chosen by his father.
According to Yoji Gomi, a Japanese journalist who published a book about Ko in 2025, she, who was part of the prestigious Mansudae Artistic Company, would have caught Kim’s attention thanks to her “pure beauty and her dance skills.”
And although she never married the supreme leader and their relationship was never recognized by the regime, Ko managed to live what Gomi pictures as a “Cinderella story life.”
Various reports suggest that Kim fell deeply in love with Ko, who later developed an interest in the country’s politics.
However, while the official wife resided in the capital, Pyongyang, Ko and his three children lived about 210 kilometers away, in the coastal city of Wonsan.
“Kim Jong-un is not the son of the official wife. He is, essentially, the ‘illegitimate son’ of Ko Yong-hui,” says Kim Hyung-su of the Northern Research Association.
“The Paektu bloodline [del régimen] is considered sacred, so the idea that the leader is the son of a jjaepo It is unimaginable.”
Children born out of wedlock suffer a strong stigma in North Korea, a country that, despite its communist façade, remains deeply influenced by Confucian beliefs.
According to analysts, concepts such as filial piety and loyalty have been used to indoctrinate the population.
Gomi offers another explanation for why Kim Jong-un grew up far from the capital.
At that time there was a ferry that connected Wonsan with Japan, which made it easy for Ko to meet people who arrived on that boat and get Japanese products.
“Ko missed his home in Japan very much and taught his children Japanese,” he says.
Kenji Fujimoto, a sushi chef who worked for Kim Jong-il between 1988 and 2001, wrote in one of his books that Kim Jong-un was “good at singing Japanese songs” and that he “envied Japan’s advanced economy.”
According to Japanese media that cited officials at the time, Kim Jong-un even visited Tokyo Disneyland with his older brother.
Gomi also maintains that Ko traveled to Japan on her own, accompanied only by her secretary.
Succession
“Ko Yong-hui was never recognized as Kim Il-sung’s daughter-in-law,” Ryu Hyun-woo, a North Korean diplomat in exile, wrote in his book Kim Jong-un’s Secret Vault (Kim Jong-un’s secret vault).
Photos of Kim Il-sung and his grandson Jong-un would have been spread everywhere if Ko had won the elder Kim’s approval, says Dr. Cheong Seong-chang of the Sejong Institute.
But even though that didn’t happen, Ko earned Kim Jong-il’s trust, acting as the country’s de facto first lady, accompanying her husband on military inspections and befriending his entourage.
Kim even asked him for his opinion before making political decisions, Fujimoto, the chef, wrote.
An official documentary produced after Kim Jong-il’s death in 2011 showed images of Ko accompanying the then supreme leader on local tours, although it never revealed his name or address. songbun.
The documentary was also not released publicly, but was only shown to senior party officials in June 2012, according to Dr. Cheong, although it was later leaked and disseminated to the public via smuggled USB drives.
“As it spread… people’s curiosity about Ko Yong-hui skyrocketed, so the regime quickly withdrew [el documental]”says the specialist, adding that her background could call into question the legitimacy of the regime.
So how did the mistress’s second son, Kim Jong-il’s youngest son, end up inheriting power?
Many biographers believe that Ko actively groomed Kim Jong-un for the succession.
His younger sister told him that he had to become the next leader or else his family would be in danger, veteran journalist Anna Fifield wrote in her book The Huge Successor: The Secret Rise and Rule of Kim Jong-un (The Great Successor: The Secret Rise and Rule of Kim Jong-un).
Kim Jong-il’s eldest son, Kim Jong-nam, fell from grace early on because he questioned North Korea’s hereditary succession and advocated reform, says Goji, who had an email exchange with him over the years.
Jong-nam’s political views could be the fruit of a decade of study abroad, and he was fluent in French and English. He also gained a reputation as a party animal due to his frequent visits to casinos and his gambling lifestyle. jet put apart.
Following Jong-nam’s return to North Korea, rumors continued about how Ko Yong-hui was preparing his sons for succession. But his eldest son, Jong-chul, was ruled out as heir because of his serious opium addiction, according to a book by Ryu, a former diplomat. He said that Jong-chul once knocked on his door at dawn and demanded opium.
According to analysts, Kim Jong-un became his father’s favorite for his leadership potential and competitive nature.
Ko’s sister and her husband were tasked with caring for Kim and her older brother while they studied in Switzerland.
But the couple fled to the United States in 1998, after Ko was diagnosed with breast cancer. They worried that “the regime would no longer need them,” according to a 2016 Washington Post article in which they were interviewed.
Although Kim Jong-un became the successor, his fears were arguably well founded. After coming to power, one of his uncles was executed, while Jong-nam was murdered in Malaysia.
“Spreads doubts like wildfire”
Ko died before Kim Jong-il, but his death, which occurred in a smart home in Paris, went unnoticed by North Korean state media.
However, according to analysts, Kim Jong-un’s mysterious lineage could be the reason why his birthday has not been declared a national holiday, unlike those of his grandfather and father.
Drawing attention to his birth could raise thorny questions about his mother and why he was raised outside Pyongyang.
“Revealing the truth could spread doubt like wildfire,” says Kim, the researcher.
Although he is at the top of the North Korean hierarchy, the songbun of Kim Jong-un would technically place him relatively low in the social order due to his ties to Koreans zainichi and deserters, wrote former diplomat Ryu.
The secrecy surrounding Kim Jong-un’s origin could be part of the reason he publicly introduced his wife, Ri Sol-ju, early in his rule, while apparently grooming his teenage daughter, Ju Ae, as a future successor, Cheong argues.
Ri, a former singer with a prestigious performing group, is believed to come from an upper-middle-class family in Pyongyang, according to South Korea’s intelligence service. Some reports suggest that his father was a university professor. The State sent her to study classical singing in China, which is an indicator of good songbun.
Will Kim Jong-un ever reveal his mother’s origins?
It would be a tall order, even for North Korea’s propaganda machine.
*Above image from East Asia Visual Journalism; additional reporting by Grace Tsoi and Laignee Barron.
click hereto scrutinize more stories from BBC News World.
Subscribe hereto our new publication to receive every Friday a selection of our best content of the week.
You can also follow us on YouTube, instagram, TikTok, x, Facebookand on our channel of WhatsApp.
And remember that you can receive notifications in our app. Download the latest version and activate them.
- 5 things we don’t know about Kim Jong-un, the supreme leader of North Korea who turns 40
- “Kim Jong-un is well aware that loyalty is waning and that is why he is intensifying his dread regime”
