SEOUL – North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s wife has made her first public appearance in over a year, state media reported today, after speculation that her absence may be coronavirus-related, or because of a potential pregnancy.
Ri Sol-ju, believed to be in her early 30s, joined her husband at a concert commemorating the birthday of his father and predecessor, Jong-il.
The anniversary celebrating the second member of the Kim dynasty to lead the now nuclear-armed North is known as the Day of the Shining Star, and is one of the country’s most important public holidays.
The North’s official Rodong Sinmun newspaper published photos of the couple smiling broadly and applauding performers at the Mansudae Art Theatre in Pyongyang.
“As the general secretary came to the auditorium of the theatre together with his wife Ri Sol-ju amid the welcome music, all the participants burst into thunderous cheers of ‘Hurrah!’” reported the official KCNA news agency.
None of the audience members or performers is wearing a mask in the photos.
Ri was last seen in January 2020 at an event for the Chinese New Year holiday.
Her extended absence prompted questions over her health, whether she was in seclusion to avoid any risk of coronavirus infection, or pregnant. The couple are believed to have three children.
The impoverished country has been under self-imposed isolation since closing its borders in January last year in a bid to protect itself from the pandemic that has swept the world since first emerging in neighbouring China.
Kim has repeatedly insisted that North Korea has had no Covid-19 cases, although outside experts doubt those assertions.
A former singer, Ri emerged in the public eye in 2012.
She is regarded as one of the most high-profile women in the isolated and deeply patriarchal nation, alongside her husband’s sister and close adviser, Yo-jong. – AFP, February 17, 2021
