Kim Jong Un’s Wife: Who Ri Sol-ju Is

Kim Jong Un’s public role

Kim Jong Un is a North Korean politician and the country’s supreme leader. He is general secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea and president of the State Affairs Commission. He is also Supreme Commander of the Korean People’s Army and has held the office of supreme leader since 2011.

Kim has been part of the public succession since 2009, when he was viewed as the successor to the North Korean leadership. Following the death of his father, Kim Jong Il, he assumed several leadership positions. He became a member of the Presidium of the Workers’ Party of Korea Politburo and was promoted to the highest rank of marshal in the army in July 2012.

Who Ri Sol-ju is

Ri Sol-ju was born in 1989 and is from Chongjin in North Korea. She is a North Korean singer and has been described as First Lady of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. News accounts have given different ages for her, while biographical listings identify 1989 as her birth year.

Public information about Ri Sol-ju has been limited. Very little information about her appeared in official North Korean sources. In 2012, she was photographed holding what appeared to be a Dior handbag, a detail cited in coverage of the couple.

How the marriage was identified

Kim Jong Un and Ri Sol-ju have been married since 2009. North Korean state media formally announced the relationship on 25 July 2012, describing her as “his wife, Comrade Ri Sol-ju”. The announcement provided the clearest public identification of the woman who had appeared in earlier reporting.

News organisations covered the announcement and the circumstances surrounding it. BBC News reported the marriage on 25 July 2012, while The Australian described Ri Sol-ju as Kim Jong Un’s bride on the same date. The New York Times also covered the marriage, and The Guardian returned to Ri Sol-ju’s public profile in October 2012.

Kim Jong Un’s wider family

Kim Jong-il is Kim Jong Un’s father, and Ko Yong-hui is his mother. Kim Ju Ae and Kim Jong-ju are identified as Ri Sol-ju’s children. Kim Jong Un is recorded as having three children in total, establishing the family relationship through which Ri Sol-ju is publicly known.

Kim Jong Un, born in 1984, has several siblings named in the family record. Kim Jong-chul is his sibling. Kim Jong-nam is his sibling. Kim Yo-jong is his sibling. Kim Sul-song is his sibling. The listing gives each of them the same sibling relationship within the Kim family.

Ri Sol-ju’s work

Ri Sol-ju’s public occupation is singing, and she is identified as a singer. Her musical background has not been documented through detailed accounts of training, ensembles, genres, albums or live performances. The published biographical information therefore identifies her work broadly without describing particular musical projects.

No details of Ri Sol-ju’s performances or recordings have been published. Her repertoire, musical education, professional groups and record label have not been publicly reported. She has also not been publicly reported as holding another occupation. Public attention has centred instead on her position as Kim Jong Un’s wife and on the limited official information about her.

What has not been publicly reported

Ri Sol-ju’s exact date of birth has not been published. No account of how she and Kim Jong Un met has appeared in print. Neither has spoken publicly about the relationship or the marriage. No detailed account of their wedding ceremony or celebration has been published.

No detailed account of Ri Sol-ju’s early life or upbringing has appeared in print. Her parents and family background have not been publicly documented. The circumstances of her transition into singing work have not been published, and no personal account of her role within Kim Jong Un’s family has appeared.