A woman believed to be the wife of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il died of a heart attack earlier this month after a long battle with breast cancer, South Korean news reports said on Monday.
Secret funeral services have been held in Pyongyang for Kim’s second wife, Ko Yong-Hui (51) who died on August 13 after returning home from Paris where she received cancer treatment, Yonhap news agency said.
Ko, a Japanese-born former leading lady of Pyongyang’s premier song-and-dance troupe, was known to have been treated for cancer during her visit to Paris earlier this year.
Information relating to Kim’s family and private life is a closely guarded secret in the communist country.
But Ko is believed to be the foremost of at least three women considered to be Kim’s wives or consorts. It is unclear whether he officially married any of them.
Ko, referred to as the ”respected mother” and ”great woman” in the North’s media, has campaigned to have one of her two sons groomed as heir-apparent to their father, according to an intelligence source here.
She gave birth to Kim’s second son Jong-Chul (23) and third son Jong-Woon (18).
Kim’s eldest son, Jong-Nam (33) was born to Sung Hae-Rim, who reportedly died in a Moscow hospital in 2002. The first son was deported from Japan for illegal entry in 2002. North Korea watchers say a battle may heat up in Pyongyang over who will be named to replace Kim (62) although there are no visible signs yet that a choice has been made.
Kim Jong-Il succeeded his father following his death in 1994 but had been annointed many years earlier to become the first hereditary ruler of a communist state. – Sapa