Kim Young-sook

Kim Young-sook (Korean: 김영숙; born 1947) is the second wife and widow of Kim Jong Il.^{[1][failed verification]} She was the daughter of a high-ranking military official, and was a switchboard operator in North Hamgyong Province before moving to Pyongyang.^[2] Kim Jong Il's father, Kim Il Sung, handpicked her to marry his son.^[2] The two had been estranged for some years before his death. Kim Young-sook had two daughters from this marriage, Kim Sol-song (born 1974) and Kim Chun-song (born 1976).^{[3][unreliable source?]}

Song Hye-rang, the sister of Kim Jong Il's first mistress Song Hye-rim, mentioned that she is "insignificant to Kim Jong Il, apart from being a legitimate wife in front of Kim Il Sung. She did not even have an identity card in North Korea" as noted in her memoir Rattan house.^[4]

v t e Select[α] family tree of North Korea's ruling Kim family[β][γ][δ][ε]
Kim Song-ryeong 1810–1899 Kim Ŭngu 1848–1878 Kim Pohyŏn 1871–1955 Kim Hyong-jik 1894–1926 Kang Pan Sok 1892–1932 Kim Jong-suk 1917–1949 Kim Il Sung 1912–1994 Kim Song-ae 1924–2014 Kim Yong-ju 1920–2021 Kim Young-sook 1947– Song Hye-rim 1937–2002 Kim Jong Il 1941?[ζ]–2011 Ko Yong-hui 1952–2004 Kim Ok 1964– Kim Kyong-hui 1946– Jang Song-thaek 1946–2013 Kim Pyong Il 1954– Kim Sol-song 1974– Kim Jong-nam 1971–2017 Kim Jong Chul 1981– Kim Jong Un 1983?[η]– Ri Sol-ju c. 1986– Kim Yo Jong 1987– Kim Han-sol 1995– Kim Ju Ae c. 2012[θ]–
Notes: [α] To keep the tree of manageable size, it omits five out of the seven known legitimate children of Kim Il Sung. Other children not shown in the tree are: Kim Man-il (1944–1947; child of Kim Jong-suk), Kim Kyong-jin (born 1952; child of Kim Song-ae), Kim Yong-il (1955–2000; child of Kim Song-ae), and Kim Kyong-suk (born 1951; child of Kim Song-ae). A stillborn daughter is also omitted. Kim Il Sung was reported to have had other children with women who he was not married to; they included Kim Hyŏn-nam (born 1972). Also, only some of the descendants of Kim Jong Il and Kim Jong Un (Kim Il Sung's successors) are included. [β] Korean names often have a variety of transliterations into English, which can be confusing. For example, "Kim Jong Chul" may also be written "Gim Jeong-cheol" or "Kim Jŏng-ch'ŏl" among many other variations. See Korean romanization for more information. [γ] Huss, Kan; Frost, Clay. "North Korea's First Family: Mapping the personal and political drama of the Kim clan". msnbc.com. Archived from the original on 4 February 2012. Retrieved 20 January 2013. (Confirms many, but not all, of the birth and death years. See individual articles for more references.) [δ] Yan, Holly (16 February 2017). "The world's most mysterious family tree: Kim Jong Un's secretive dynasty is full of drama, death". Design by Alberto Mier. CNN. Retrieved 16 February 2017. [ε] Lee, Sung-Yoon (2023). "The Mount Paektu Dynasty (Family Tree)". The Sister: The extraordinary story of Kim Yo Jong, the most powerful woman in North Korea. United Kingdom: Macmillan. p. x-xi. ISBN 9781529073539. [ζ] Official North Korean biographies of Kim Jong Il list his birth year as 1942. The Korean calendar is based upon the Chinese zodiac which is believed to characterize one's personality. The year 1942 (Year of the Horse), in addition to being 30 years since Kim Il Sung's birth may be viewed as a better year than others, thus creating a motive to lie about a birth year. [η] Official North Korean biographies of Kim Jong Un list his birth year as 1982. The Korean calendar is based upon the Chinese zodiac which is believed to characterize one's personality. The year 1982 (Year of the Dog), in addition to being 70 years since Kim Il Sung's birth, may be viewed as a better year than others, thus creating a motive to lie about a birth year. [θ] Birth year for Kim Ju Ae is not publicly known. She may have been born in either late 2012 or early 2013.