Debut

Monday, July 30, 2012 - North korea—”Marshal Kim Jong-Un took part in the opening ceremony of Rungna People’s Amusement Park with his wife, Comrade Ri Sol-Ju,” state television reported late Wednesday. However brief and belated — several reports said the marriage was in 2009 — the announcement marked a new departure for an intensely secretive regime which previously kept the private lives of its rulers under wraps. It ended weeks of speculation about the identity of a stylish young woman pictured accompanying the new young leader at official events this month. Some South Korean media reports had suggested she was Jong-Un’s younger sister Yo-Jong. One newspaper tentatively identified her as Hyon Song-Wol, a woman rumoured to be the leader’s lover. The North’s state media has solved the mystery but given no details of Ri — an omission which Seoul’s media strove to remedy. She is a former singer who caught Jong-Un’s eye while giving a performance, some newspapers said. One said Jong-Un’s father Kim Jong-Il, who died last December after bequeathing power to his son, had singled her out as a future first lady while working on his succession plan.—AP