North Korea: Kim Jong-un’s aunt makes surprise public appearance, six years after husband’s shock execution
- Kim Kyong-hui attended a Lunar New Year concert with the North Korean leader, his wife and influential sister
- Analysts speculate Kim Jong-un was attempting to strengthen unity of his ruling family as he harden position toward US
Kim Jong-un’s aunt has made a surprise public appearance, six years after her husband was executed as a traitor.
Kim Kyong-hui, 73, was with Kim Jong-un and other party officials when they watched a Lunar New Year’s music performance, the North’s official KCNA news agency reported Sunday.
The North’s top newspaper Rodon Sinmun published a picture which showed the aunt, bespectacled and wearing black Korean traditional clothes, sitting next to Kim Jong-un’s wife Ri Sol-ju and the leader’s sister Kim Yo-jong.
It listed Kim Kyong-hui’s name next to the North’s No 2, Choe Ryong-hae.
“This means that her familial status within the Kim dynasty remains largely intact, despite her political difficulties following her husband’s execution,” Professor Koh Yu-hwan of Dongguk University told South China Morning Post.