Kim Kyong hui

Early life and education

Kim Kyong-hui was born in Pyongyang on 30 May 1946, the youngest child of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-suk. Her birth mother died when she was four. After her father remarried, she was raised by various surrogates away from the family.

After a brief period spent in Jilin Province, China due to the Korean War, she returned to Pyongyang with her brother, Kim Jong-il. She entered Kim Il-sung University in 1963, studying political economy, where she met her future husband. The couple continued dating after he relocated to Wonsan, allegedly because the Kim family opposed their relationship. The two eventually married in 1972. She attended the Kim Il-sung Higher Party School in 1966, and went to study at Moscow State University in 1968.

Personal life

Kim and Jang had a daughter, Jang Kum-song (1977–2006), who lived overseas in Paris as an international student; she refused an order to return to Pyongyang and then reportedly committed suicide in September 2006 due to her parents' opposition to her relationship with her boyfriend.

Career

Kim Kyong-hui's political career began in 1971 with a position in the Korean Democratic Women's Union, and in 1975 she was transferred to the post of vice-director of the International Liaison Department of the Workers' Party of Korea, promoted to first vice-director in 1976. It was the period when North Korea was establishing diplomatic relations with a number of capitalist countries, like Thailand and Singapore, as well as the United Nations. She oversaw the placement of qualified diplomatic personnel during her tenure as International Department vice-director.

In 1988, she was promoted to WPK Central Committee member and director of the Light Industry Department. In 1990, she was elected deputy to the Supreme People's Assembly for the first time. Her role was particularly significant as she led the Economic Policy Inspection Department, then again the Light Industry Department during the "Arduous March" period after Kim Il-sung's death.

Kim Kyong-hui disappeared from the limelight in 2003, in the same period when Jang Sung-taek was apparently purged as well. However, while her husband resurfaced with a high-level position in 2007, she did not appear in public until 2009, playing a more and more prominent role, accompanying Kim Jong-il to several inspection tours and attending official events. On 27 September 2010, it was announced that she was made a general in the Korean People's Army, the first woman in North Korea to achieve this military rank. This coincided with her nephew Kim Jong-un's promotion to the same rank. A day later, the 3rd Conference of the Workers’ Party elected her as a member of the Political Bureau, which is the central organization of the party. Kim Kyong-hui later continued to pose as a prominent member of the North Korean leadership under Kim Jong-un. She was elected member of the WPK Secretariat and a leading figure of the WPK Organization and Guidance Department (the foremost party department led by her uncle Kim Yong-ju until 1974, and by Kim Jong-il himself from 1974 till his death) at the 4th Party Conference in April 2012.

According to South Korean sources, she also worked as Kim Jong-il's personal aide. Her influential position in North Korean echelons (also confirmed by Kenji Fujimoto) allowed her to maintain close relations with president Kim Yong-nam of the SPA Presidium, WPK Secretaries Choe Thae-bok and Kim Ki Nam, and Director Kim Yang-gon of the WPK United Front Department. Her post as head of the Light Industry Department gave her a prominent role in shaping North Korean economic policy as it was shifting its focus on developing light industry.

In 2010, Kim Kyong-hui opened the first hamburger restaurant in Pyongyang.

Execution of Jang Sung-taek

On 8 December 2013, her husband, Jang Sung-taek was publicly expelled from the ruling Workers' Party of Korea. Jang was accused of factionalism, corruption, and a range of misbehaviour that included affairs with other women. On 13 December, it was reported that he had been executed for treason.

On 14 December, the Korean Central News Agency released a roster of six top officials appointed to a national committee in charge of organizing a state funeral for Kim Kuk-tae, a former Workers' Party official. The roster included the name of Kim Kyong-hui, indicating she had survived the purge and remained in favour. The status of Kim Kyong-hui's relationship with Jang had been a subject of frequent speculation. Analysts believe that Jang and Kim Kyong-hui had been estranged. Yoon Sang-hyun, a National Assembly of South Korea deputy floor leader of the governing Saenuri Party, said that Kim had been "separated" from Jang and did not oppose his purge.

Rumours about ill health and death

In recent years, Kim Kyong-hui has been rumored to be either dead or very ill. According to a report by the Daily NK in August 2012, she has suffered from ill health due to alcoholism. It has been suggested that she has had a fatal stroke or a heart attack. According to a defector, the alleged stroke came just days after Jang's execution when Kim Kyong-hui was on the phone with Kim Jong-un discussing the killing. Some reports claim she has committed suicide. According to other reports, she underwent surgery for a brain tumour in 2013 and was left in a vegetative state. In 2015, an unnamed source, described as a high-ranking defector, claimed that Kim Jong-un had ordered Kim Kyong-hui to be poisoned. In February 2015 the South Korean National Intelligence Service stated she was still alive. In 2016, historical footage of her was aired on North Korean television, indicating that she had not been removed from official history. In 2017, the Yonhap news agency reported that she was alive but receiving medical treatment.