Kim Jong Un Fathers a 3rd Child: Reports

Kim Jong Un Fathers a 3rd Child: Reports
North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un arrives at a ceremony in Pyongyang on April 13, 2017. ED JONES/AFP/Getty Images
Jack Phillips
Updated:

North Korean despot Kim Jong Un reportedly had a third child after there was speculation over why his wife Ri Sol Ju, a former singer, disappeared from the public eye for several months.

The South Korean Yonhap News Agency reported that Kim and Ri had their third child in February. The news outlet cited South Korean lawmakers who were briefed by the National Intelligence Service.
This file photo taken on July 6, 2012, by North Korean official Korean Central News Agency and released on July 9 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (C), accompanied by wife Ri Sol-Ju.(KNS/AFP/GettyImages)
This file photo taken on July 6, 2012, by North Korean official Korean Central News Agency and released on July 9 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (C), accompanied by wife Ri Sol-Ju.KNS/AFP/GettyImages
(Screenshot)
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Ri and Kim got married in 2009 before she gave birth the following year. Their second child was born in 2013, according to media reports.

The children, unless the regime collapses, will likely follow in the footsteps of Kim in North Korea’s communist-monarchy.

Dennis Rodman, the former NBA star, told reporters that Kim’s second child is a girl after he visited the country, but it’s unclear if Kim has a male heir to succeed him. His father, Kim Jong Il, and grandfather, Kim Il Sung, were both dictators of the communist regime.

However, South Korean opposition lawmaker Yi Wan-yong has said, “Kim’s first child is a son and the second child is a daughter.”

“The gender of their new child is unknown,” the lawmaker told CNN this week.

Ri was partially educated in China. In 2005, she visited South Korea “as a member of North Korea’s cheering squad,” a South Korean lawmaker told CNN.

The report comes as North Korea fired a missile over northern Japan early Tuesday morning, prompting the Japanese government to warn its citizens.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (L) inspects a Hwasong-12 strategic ballistic rocket at an undisclosed location in this picture released by North Korean state media on May 15. (STR/AFP/Getty Images)
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (L) inspects a Hwasong-12 strategic ballistic rocket at an undisclosed location in this picture released by North Korean state media on May 15. STR/AFP/Getty Images
The test fire of a ballistic missile at an undisclosed location in North Korea in an undated photo released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on May 30, 2017. (STR/AFP/Getty Images)
The test fire of a ballistic missile at an undisclosed location in North Korea in an undated photo released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on May 30, 2017. STR/AFP/Getty Images
Ballistic missiles in a military parade in Pyongyang, North Korea, on April 16, 2017. (STR/AFP/Getty Images)
Ballistic missiles in a military parade in Pyongyang, North Korea, on April 16, 2017. STR/AFP/Getty Images

Since Kim Jong Un took power, his regime has fired off around 80 missiles—with all of them landing in waters nearby.

But in the recent test, “By lobbing a missile over Japan, North Korea is showing that it was not an empty threat when it said it would launch missiles toward Guam,” Chang Young-keun, a missile expert at Korea Aerospace University, told The New York Times on Tuesday.

“If the previous launchings were for testing technologies, this one was a realistic demonstration of an intermediate-range ballistic missile capability,” Chang said. “In this test, the North’s missile actually flew at a realistic angle and trajectory.”

Jack Phillips
Jack Phillips
Breaking News Reporter
Jack Phillips is a breaking news reporter who covers a range of topics, including politics, U.S., and health news. A father of two, Jack grew up in California's Central Valley. Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/jackphillips5
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