North Korea’s Kim Jong Un spotted with ‘secret lover’

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (L) and singer Hyon Song-wol (R)

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has been spotted with his rumoured lover – a pop star who gave up her career to join politics. Hyon Song-wol gave up her role in North Korea’s premier girl group, the Moranbong Band, to work in Kim Jong Un’s personal secretariat.

She was spotted last week in Pyongyang as part of Kim’s entourage, according to the Daily Mail. Hyon Song-wol was photographed busy on her phone as other aides frantically took notes.

Now, a retired spymaster has shed more light on the North Korean dictator’s rumoured extra-marital affair with the singer.

Choe Su-yong, a former official of South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS), claims that Kim Jong Un has a love child with the North Korean pop star. The child is named Kim Il-bong, according to Choe.

Choe recently told the Korea Times that Kim Jong Un has a legitimate child with his wife, Ri Sol-ju, but the boy is too thin and frail for a life in the public eye. He went on to describe the difference between the two half brothers: “he illegitimate son, Kim Il-bong, is sturdy, but the first son born to Kim's wife is skinny to the extent of being described in North Korean terms as pitiful.”

The retired spymaster claimed that Kim Jong Un met Hyon Song-wol while he was in school at Switzerland. Hyon apparently served Kim as a nanny-cum-caretaker. Later, they formed a relationship after they both returned to North Korea.

However, Kim Jong Un’s father, Kim Jong-il, reportedly disapproved of the relationship and ordered his son to break it off. The couple rekindled their relationship after Kim Jong-il’s death.

In November 2022, Kim Jong Un’s daughter with wife Ri Sol Ju had made her first public appearance at a missile launch site.