Ko Yong-hui
| Ko Yong-hui | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Native name | 고용희 |
| Born |
26 June 1952 Osaka, Japan |
| Died | 24 May 2004 (aged 51) Paris, France |
| Cause of death | Breast Cancer |
| Spouse(s) | Kim Jong-il (m.1977-2004) |
| Children |
Kim Jong-chul Kim Jong-un Kim Yo-jong |
| Korean name | |
| Chosŏn'gŭl | 고용희 |
| Hancha | |
| Revised Romanization | Go Yonghui |
| McCune–Reischauer | Ko Yonghŭi |
Ko Yong-hui (Hangul: 고용희; Hanja: 高容姬; 26 June 1952 – 24 May 2004), also spelled Ko Young-hee, was the North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong-il's and mother of North Korea's current leader, Kim Jong-un. Within North Korea she is only referred to by titles, such as "The Respected Mother who is the Most Faithful and Loyal 'Subject' to the Dear Leader Comrade Supreme Commander", "The Mother of Pyongyang", and "The Mother of Great Songun Korea."
Ko was born in Ikuno, Osaka, Japan, to a Korean father and a Japanese mother. Ko's birth date and Japanese name in Japanese official records are 26 June 1952 and Takada Hime, respectively. Her father, Ko Gyon-tek, worked in an Osaka sewing factory run by Japan's ministry of war. She, along with her family, moved to North Korea in May 1961 or in 1962 as part of a repatriation program. In the early 1970s, she began working as a dancer for the Mansudae Art Troupe in Pyongyang. Her younger sister Ko Yong-suk sought asylum from the U.S. embassy in Bern, Switzerland while she was living there taking care of Kim Jong-un during his school days, according to South Korea's National Intelligence Service; U.S. officials arranged Ko Yong-suk's departure from the country without consulting South Korean officials.
It is thought that Ko and Kim Jong-il first met in 1972. In 1981, Ko gave birth to son Kim Jong-chul, her first child with Kim. It was Kim's third child, after son Kim Jong-nam (born 1971 to Song Hye-rim), and daughter Kim Sul-song (born 1974 to Kim Young-sook). Kim Jong-il's second child with Ko, the present North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong-un, followed one to three years after Jong-chul. Their third child, Kim Yo-jong, a daughter, was believed to be about 23 in 2012. However, the birth year of Kim Yo-jong is also given as 1987.
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