South Korea's spy agency said Friday it is analyzing rare state media footage showing the powerful sister of North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un with two children — saying they could be hers.
The regime's key spokeswoman, Kim Yo Jong, was spotted with two young people – a boy and a girl – while attending a New Year art performance in North Korea.
She was seen holding the boy's hand as the three walked together.
The reclusive North has never officially released any information about Kim Yo Jong's marital status or children, but Seoul's spy agency said it was checking whether the children were in state media footage of her.
“We are conducting a detailed analysis while maintaining this possibility,” the statement said.
Jorge Silva/AP
The National Intelligence Service said it had previously discovered that Kim Yo Jong may have had children, and those she was photographed with were of the appropriate age.
Seoul's Unification Ministry told AFP that those taking part in the performance in Pyongyang were expected to be accompanied by family members, but said it was “unusual” to see Kim Yo Jong with children.
State media footage also showed leader Kim with his teenage daughter, known as Kim Joo Ae.
Seoul-based specialist website NK News said the release of the images could be part of a “propaganda effort to humanize regime officials”.
“It also follows a trend that began earlier in 2022 of elite officials from Kim Jong-un's inner circle arriving for special events or donating to disaster relief with their spouses and family members,” it said. .
Kim Yo Jong has long been one of her brother's closest lieutenants and one of the most powerful women in the isolated regime.
According to the South Korean government, she was born in 1988 and is one of three children born to Kim's father and predecessor, Kim Jong Il, and his third known partner, former dancer Ko Yong Hui.
She was educated in Switzerland alongside her brother and quickly rose through the ranks after he inherited power following their father's death in 2011.
In April 2015, Seoul's spy agency said Kim Yo Jong was expected to give birth next month.
Later in 2018, a spy agency in the South said it knew Kim was pregnant during her visit to South Korea in February of the same year at the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang.
This summer, the National Intelligence Service told lawmakers that Kim Jong-un had regained weight and appeared to have obesity-related health problems, such as high blood pressure and diabetes. Kim, known for his drinking and smoking, comes from a family with heart problems. Both Kim's father and grandfather, who ruled North Korea before inheriting power in 2011, he died of heart problems.
Kim's health is in the spotlight outside North Korea as he has not officially anointed a successor to take charge of the country's development nuclear arsenal aimed at the US and his allies when he was incapacitated.
The National Intelligence Service has estimated that Kim's teenage daughter is solidifying her likely status as her father's heir. However, the agency said it could not rule out the possibility that she could be replaced by one of her siblings because she had not been officially designated as her father's successor.