South Korean intelligence now considers Kim Il Sung’s ex-wife Kim Song Ae – born in 1924 – to be officially dead, although the Ministry of Unification said it would “share” information only after thorough investigation.

At first glance, the death of a member of the Kim family clan might normally be a big deal. One could therefore even start speculating about it as being one of the reasons Kim Jong Un appears unlikely to come to Seoul before the end of 2018, as he was expected to do.

But there is no confirmation that her death happened recently. In addition,