The wife of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has been missing from the public eye for more than a year now, leading some analysts to wonder what happened to the country’s breakout first lady.
Ri Sol Ju, who is thought to be 32 years old, was last seen in state media sitting next to Kim at Pyongyang’s Samjiyon Theater for a Lunar New Year’s Day performance that took place on Jan. 25, 2020. Before she disappeared from state media, Ri was the first wife of a North Korean leader to repeatedly appear next to her husband
The wife of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has been missing from the public eye for more than a year now, leading some analysts to wonder what happened to the country’s breakout first lady.
Ri Sol Ju, who is thought to be 32 years old, was last seen in state media sitting next to Kim at Pyongyang’s Samjiyon Theater for a Lunar New Year’s Day performance that took place on Jan. 25, 2020. Before she disappeared from state media, Ri was the first wife of a North Korean leader to repeatedly appear next to her husband in public — and experts now say that her missing status suggests that Kim no longer cares to look like a “normal world leader.”
Jeongmin Kim is a Lead Correspondent at NK News, based in Seoul. Kim covers inter-Korean and DPRK-related foreign, defense and humanitarian affairs, and has covered the 2022 ROK Presidential election on the ground. Prior to joining NK News, she worked for the CSIS Korea Chair in Washington D.C. and Reuters news agency's Seoul bureau. Follow her on Twitter @jeongminnkim