The Hidden People of North Korea by Ralph Hassig, Kongdan Oh Page A
Authors: Ralph Hassig, Kongdan Oh
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keep the people from seeing how red their leader’s eyes are from hard work and lack of sleep. 68
Kim has a distinctive taste in clothing. Before the 1980s, he sometimes wore a Western suit, which made him look like a portly young businessman, but for most of his life, he has worn light tan slacks with a matching workingman’s zipper jacket, often referred to in the foreign press as a jumper, but in North Korea his attire is known as inminbok , or “people’s clothes.” Actually, with his stout build and unruly hair, he somewhat resembles the bus driver character Ralph Kramden, played by the comedian Jackie Gleason on the old television series The Honeymooners . On formal occasions, he may wear a longer Mao jacket, but even when meeting heads of state, he usually wears his work clothes. The North Korean press says that Kim’s attire reflects his lifestyle as a workingman and that it shows his solidarity with soldiers, although they do not wear jumpers. “Our general is always dressed in the same outfit, a field uniform, regardless of the changing seasons. Our general’s field uniform would always be wet from the sweltering heat and pouring rain that comes down irregularly in the midsummer season, and from sleet and heavy snow in the cold winter season. … Our respected and beloved general has no time to take off his field uniform.” 69 In point of fact, Kim does wear short sleeves in the summer, and in the winter he wears a heavy parka and thick gloves. His clothes are tailor-made of the finest fabrics. It is difficult to believe that he is ever drenched in sweat or covered with snow.
Kim has an eye for attractive women, and his position as dictator gives him ample opportunity to meet them; however, as he has grown older, he seems to spend less time hosting parties and chasing women. He has had many affairs, but it is hard to tell how many serious relationships and how many wives. Marriage as a legal institution hardly applies in his case because he is above the law. Some believe that Kim’s first wife or mistress was Hong Il-chon, a graduate of Kim Il-sung University and later a member of the Supreme People’s Assembly, whom he may have married in 1966 and divorced or separated from in 1971. In the late 1960s, Kim began an affair with Song Hye-rim (mentioned above in connection with Kim’s niece, Yi Nam-ok). Song was five years older than Kim and already married, but she divorced her husband, began living with Kim in 1969, and had a child, Kim Jong-nam. Neither Song, whose political origins were suspect because she had been born in South Korea, nor her son was ever presented to Kim Il-sung, and it is not known if the father even knew about their existence. Kim eventually lost interest in Song, her mental health began to deteriorate, and she spent the rest of her life in Moscow receiving psychological treatment. She died in 2002.
In 1973 or 1974, apparently to please his father, Kim took as his official wife Kim Yong-suk, a typist in his father’s office. They had at least one daughter, Kim Sol-song, who reportedly works in Kim’s private office, and perhaps one son. Kim Yong-suk may be living in an official residence in Pyongyang, but other reports say she has died. Just a few years later, in the mid-1970s, Kim fell in love with Ko Yong-hi, a beautiful Osaka-born dancer working in North Korea. He moved in with her in the late 1970s and fathered three children: two sons, Kim Jong-chol and Kim Jong-un, and a daughter, Kim Ye-jong. Ko Yong-hi died of cancer in 2004 after undergoing treatment in Paris. Kim Jong-il’s name has been associated with other mistresses, and in 2006, foreign news reports identified one Kim Ok, a professional pianist who had been Kim’s secretary since the 1980s, as his new “wife.” The North Korean people know nothing about these women, although a vague propaganda campaign glorifying Ko Yong-hi (although not by name) began around 2002, possibly to prepare the way for leadership
Kim has a distinctive taste in clothing. Before the 1980s, he sometimes wore a Western suit, which made him look like a portly young businessman, but for most of his life, he has worn light tan slacks with a matching workingman’s zipper jacket, often referred to in the foreign press as a jumper, but in North Korea his attire is known as inminbok , or “people’s clothes.” Actually, with his stout build and unruly hair, he somewhat resembles the bus driver character Ralph Kramden, played by the comedian Jackie Gleason on the old television series The Honeymooners . On formal occasions, he may wear a longer Mao jacket, but even when meeting heads of state, he usually wears his work clothes. The North Korean press says that Kim’s attire reflects his lifestyle as a workingman and that it shows his solidarity with soldiers, although they do not wear jumpers. “Our general is always dressed in the same outfit, a field uniform, regardless of the changing seasons. Our general’s field uniform would always be wet from the sweltering heat and pouring rain that comes down irregularly in the midsummer season, and from sleet and heavy snow in the cold winter season. … Our respected and beloved general has no time to take off his field uniform.” 69 In point of fact, Kim does wear short sleeves in the summer, and in the winter he wears a heavy parka and thick gloves. His clothes are tailor-made of the finest fabrics. It is difficult to believe that he is ever drenched in sweat or covered with snow.
Kim has an eye for attractive women, and his position as dictator gives him ample opportunity to meet them; however, as he has grown older, he seems to spend less time hosting parties and chasing women. He has had many affairs, but it is hard to tell how many serious relationships and how many wives. Marriage as a legal institution hardly applies in his case because he is above the law. Some believe that Kim’s first wife or mistress was Hong Il-chon, a graduate of Kim Il-sung University and later a member of the Supreme People’s Assembly, whom he may have married in 1966 and divorced or separated from in 1971. In the late 1960s, Kim began an affair with Song Hye-rim (mentioned above in connection with Kim’s niece, Yi Nam-ok). Song was five years older than Kim and already married, but she divorced her husband, began living with Kim in 1969, and had a child, Kim Jong-nam. Neither Song, whose political origins were suspect because she had been born in South Korea, nor her son was ever presented to Kim Il-sung, and it is not known if the father even knew about their existence. Kim eventually lost interest in Song, her mental health began to deteriorate, and she spent the rest of her life in Moscow receiving psychological treatment. She died in 2002.
In 1973 or 1974, apparently to please his father, Kim took as his official wife Kim Yong-suk, a typist in his father’s office. They had at least one daughter, Kim Sol-song, who reportedly works in Kim’s private office, and perhaps one son. Kim Yong-suk may be living in an official residence in Pyongyang, but other reports say she has died. Just a few years later, in the mid-1970s, Kim fell in love with Ko Yong-hi, a beautiful Osaka-born dancer working in North Korea. He moved in with her in the late 1970s and fathered three children: two sons, Kim Jong-chol and Kim Jong-un, and a daughter, Kim Ye-jong. Ko Yong-hi died of cancer in 2004 after undergoing treatment in Paris. Kim Jong-il’s name has been associated with other mistresses, and in 2006, foreign news reports identified one Kim Ok, a professional pianist who had been Kim’s secretary since the 1980s, as his new “wife.” The North Korean people know nothing about these women, although a vague propaganda campaign glorifying Ko Yong-hi (although not by name) began around 2002, possibly to prepare the way for leadership
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