Ko Yong Suk
North Korean defector (born 1958)
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Ko Yong Suk (Korean: 고용석; born 1958) is the aunt of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. Her elder sister, Ko Yong-hui, was the mistress of Kim Jong Il and mother of Kim Jong Un. Ko Yong Suk defected to the United States in 1998.[1] Ko looks very much like her elder sister.[2] She took care of Kim Jong Un and his sister in Switzerland and settled into a middle-class quiet life in America.
Pre-defection
Ko's first son and Kim Jong Un were playmates from birth in North Korea.[3] She says this son and Kim Jong Un are the same age and born in 1984. She changed both their diapers.[4] Ko stated that even as a young child Kim Jong Un showed personality traits such as defiance of parents, intolerance, hunger strikes, and a short temper that would later become stronger and that he knew at age 8 he would one day rule North Korea.[3] Even generals bowed down to him at the young age of 8.[1][5] Ko and her family arrived in Switzerland in 1992 and Kim Jong Un in 1996 and they took care of him again, as well as his sister Kim Yo Jong.[3][6]
Defection and later life
Kim Jong Il handpicked Ri Gang to marry Ko. Ri Gang is also known as Pak Kun.[7] The couple would go on summer vacations with Kim Jong Il and other relatives.[8] Ko and her husband, Ri Gang, contacted the American Embassy in Bern, Switzerland, to defect in 1998. They were taken to an American military base in Frankfurt and debriefed for months.[3][9] The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) helped them and gave them $280,000 to buy a house in New York.[4][10] The house is several hours drive from New York City.[11] The family defected because of the cruelty they saw in the North Korean regime and they were concerned what would happen when Kim Jong Il died, leaving them without a direct connection to North Korea's ruler.[12] They run a dry cleaning business.[1] In order to protect them the family lives under assumed names and the city they live in is kept secret.[4] The couple has two sons and one daughter, all educated professionals.[12][13] The eldest son is a mathematician, the other son helps with the family business, and the daughter works in computer science. None of them are interested in Korea, North nor South.[14] The CIA still visits them from time to time to identify people in photographs.[13]
In 2015 Ko sued three defectors who "spread false stories" about her. The allegedly false claims are about her and Ri having plastic surgery after defecting, having Kim Jong Un's half-brother expelled from North Korea, and managing a secret fund for Kim Jong Il.[6] She sought damages of 60 million won ($51,600 USD) in a South Korean court.[12][15]