The world knows little about North Korea, the country remains locked away and only meagre information finds its way out here and there.
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Kim Jong Un, the leader of the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK), has sustained the long-standing history of his inherited dynasty, to keep North Korea as one of the most secretive and repressive countries, known famously to the world also as a ‘hermit kingdom’.
Akin to life in general in the communist country, little is known about the personal life of their leader, Kim Jong Un.
Subject to wild speculations
Due to being completely sealed off, the details about the leadership and events in the DPRK become frequently subject to wild speculations. According to Business Insider, much of the information that leaks is generated from South Korea’s National Intelligence Service.
In a report by NBCNews last year, U.S. Officials were cited as hypothesising that Kim underwent heart surgery and hinted at potential incapacitation to further lead the country. This news was linked with a recent appointment of his sister, Kim Yo Jong, to a senior governmental position, to prepare her for substituting him until one of his heirs becomes ready to take charge. Nevertheless, NBCNewsalso cited South Korean intel discrediting this news by stating that ‘Kim is working’.
Heirs to the Kim Dynasty
For many years now, many have wondered about Kim’s personal life, his marriage with Ri Sol Ju, which CNNsays Kim married back in 2009, and their children—the heirs to the Kim dynasty.
For much of the previous decade, it was believed that Kim has only two children, but then reports by various media in 2017 including CNNemerged about the birth of a third child in February of that year.
In 2018, Business Insider reported, about the surprising attendance of former basketball star Dennis Rodman at the Kim-Trump Summit in Vietnam, most notably because of his close relationship with Kim Jong Un and due to his trip to Pyongyang in 2013 and 2014 where he was hosted by Kim.
In an interview for The Guardian, Rodman provided candid details about Kim’s personal life, saying ‘I held their baby Ju Ae and spoke with Ms. Ri as well. [Kim's] a good dad and has a beautiful family.’
Apart from this, it is believed that Kim Jong Un’s three children are supposedly between 3 and 10 years old, the eldest is believed to be a boy and will one day inherit the leadership of the country from his father.
Neither Rodman's comments nor the reports about his three heirs are independently corroborated.
Sources used:
-Business Insider: ‘What we know about Kim Jong Un's 3 possible heirs’
-NBC News: ‘U.S. officials say Kim Jong Un of North Korea may be ill after surgery, but South Korea casts doubt’
-CNN: ‘South Korea: Kim Jong Un’s third child born in February’
-Business Insider: ‘How former basketball star Dennis Rodman became an unlikely presence at the Trump-Kim summit’
-The Guardian: ’Dennis Rodman gives away name of Kim Jong-un's daughter’
Read more:
⋙ Kim Jong-un makes bizarre demand of North Korean citizens
⋙ 'Evolving threat' from North Korea forces US and South Korea to begin joint military drills
⋙ South Korea ups its surveillance as North Korea launches missiles
