North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s wife makes rare appearance for Lunar New Year celebration

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s wife, Ri Sol-ju, appeared on state media for the first time in nearly five months on February 1, 2022. The couple attended an art performance that was held in the capital Pyongyang’s Mansudae Art Theatre to celebrate the Lunar New Year holiday. Also sighted in public for the first time since January 2020 was Kim’s aunt, Kim Kyong-hui. She is a former senior official of the ruling Workers’ Party who was a key figure when Kim was a young leader in his first years in power. Kim Kyong-hui had disappeared from the public view after her nephew ordered the execution of her powerful husband, Jang Song-thaek, over treason charges in 2013.