Ko Yong-hui

Biography

Born in Ikuno Korea Town of Osaka, Japan, Ko's birth date and Japanese name in Japanese official records are 26 June 1952 and Takada Hime (高田姫), respectively. Her father, Ko Gyon-tek, worked in an Osaka sewing factory run by Japan's ministry of war, a 16th-generation descendant of the Joseon scholar official, Ko Tŭkchong. Her mother is also Korean. She, along with her family, moved to North Korea in May 1961 or 1962 as part of a repatriation program. In the early 1970s, she began working as a dancer for the Mansudae Art Troupe in Pyongyang.

It is thought that Ko and Kim Jong Il first met in 1972. In 1981, Ko had a son named Kim Jong-chul, her first child with Kim. It was Kim's fourth child, after daughter Kim Hye-gyong (born 1968 to Hong Il-chon), son Kim Jong-nam (born 1971 to Song Hye-rim), and daughter Kim Sol-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.

On 27 August 2004, various sources reported that Ko had died in Paris from an unspecific illness, probably of breast cancer; however, there are other reports, stating that she was treated in Paris in the spring of 2004 and flown back to Pyongyang where she fell into a coma and died in August 2004.

Cult of personality

Under North Korea's songbun ascribed status system, Ko's Korean-Japanese heritage made her part of the lowest "hostile" class. Furthermore, her father worked in a sewing factory for the Imperial Japanese Army, which gave her the "lowest imaginable status qualities" for a North Korean.

Prior to an internal propaganda film released after the ascension of Kim Jong Un, there were three attempts made to idolize Ko, in a style similar to that associated with Kang Pan Sok, mother of Kim Il Sung, and Kim Jong Suk, the first wife of Kim Il Sung and mother of Kim Jong Il. These previous attempts at idolization failed and were stopped after Kim Jong Il's 2008 stroke.

The building of a cult of personality around Ko encounters the problem of her bad songbun due to her mother, even though it is usually passed on by the father. Making her identity public would have undermined the Kim family's pure bloodline, and after Kim Jong Il's death, her personal information, including her name, became state secrets. Ko's real name and other personal details have not been publicly revealed in North Korea, and she is referred to as "Mother of Great Songun Korea" or "Great Mother".

In 2012, Kim Jong Un built a grave for Ko on Taesongsan.

Japanese journalist Yoji Gomi, author of Ko Yong-hui: The Zainichi Korean Who Became Kim Jong-un’s Mother, based on interviews with Ko’s relatives in Osaka, speculates that Kim Jong Un’s highly visible promotion of his daughter, Kim Ju-ae, may stem from a psychological complex linked to his inability to officially canonize his mother.

References

References

1. Yoo Kwang-seok. link. (9 December 2015)
2. Kim Jong-hyeon. link. (2 August 2012)
3. also spelled '''Ko Young-hee''', was the [[Mistress (lover). mistress]] of North Korean supreme leader [[Kim Jong Il]] and the mother of his successor, [[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".Lintner, Bertil (2005) ''Great leader, dear leader: demystifying North Korea under the Kim Clan'' Silkworm Books, Chiang Mai, Thailand, page 107, {{ISBN. 974-9575-69-5
4. 978-1-84277-905-7
5. Yang Jung-a. (30 June 2012). "North Korea: The Glorification Nation". [[Daily NK]].
6. Carrigan, Liam. (2020-03-06). "Ikuno Ward: Osaka's Own Korea Town".
7. Kokita, Kiyohito. (1 December 2010}}; see Kokita Kiyohito, Tessa Morris-Suzuki and Mark Selden, [http://japanfocus.org/-Kiyohito-Kokita/3465 Ko Tae Mun, Ko Chung Hee, and the Osaka Family Origins of North Korean Successor Kim Jong Un] {{Webarchive). "Osaka black mark in Kim's life?". [[The Asahi Shimbun]].
8. Ko Young-ki. (26 June 2012). "Happy Birthday, Koh Young Hee". [[Daily NK]].
9. Ko Dong-hwan. (24 December 2013). "NK leader's secret 'pro-Japanese' family history revealed". [[The Korea Times]].
10. Mark Willacy, [http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-05-11/kim-bloodline-am/4004784 Kim Jong-un's grandfather 'was Japanese collaborator'], ABC News 11 May 2012
11. Takahashi, Kosuke. (14 July 2012). "Young general comes out as mother's boy". Asia Times.
12. (5 November 2013). "Kim Jong-un's aunt fled to U.S.; She and husband sought asylum in 1998, had cosmetic surgery". [[JoongAng Ilbo]].
13. Ko Young-ki. (31 May 2011). "Ko Young Hee Image Uncovered". [[Daily NK]].
14. Lee Young-jong. (8 August 2012). "Kim Jong-un's sister is having a ball". [[Korea JoongAng Daily]].
15. (11 July 2012). "Kim Yo Jong". North Korea Leadership Watch.
16. 978-1-4042-1901-4
17. Brooke, James. (27 August 2004). "A Mystery About a Mistress in North Korea". [[The New York Times]].
18. Cho Jong-ik. (30 July 2012). ""Great Mother" revealed to World". [[Daily NK]].
19. Andrei Lankov. (3 December 2011). "North Korea's new class system". [[Asia Times]].
20. (30 March 2016). "Ko Yong-hui Grave". [[Radio Free Asia]].
21. Curtis Melvin. (8 April 2016). "Kim Jong-un's mother's grave (Ko Yong-hui)". NK Economy Watch.
22. (25 June 2025). "Hyung-hee is a Korean-Japanese and moved to North Korea when she was 10 years old". Maeil Business Newspaper.