Kim Ok

For the poet, see Kim Ok (poet).

In this Korean name, the family name is Kim.

Kim Ok (Korean: 김옥; born 28 August 1964) is a former North Korean government employee who served as Kim Jong Il's personal secretary from the 1980s until his death in 2011.^[1] After the death of Ko Yong Hui in August 2004, she regularly met with foreign officials as the de facto first lady of North Korea, and was rumored to be the supreme leader's fourth wife.^[2]

Kim Ok
Kim in 2000
Born	(1964-08-28) 28 August 1964 (age 60)
Partner	Kim Jong Il (2004–2011)
Korean name
Chosŏn'gŭl	김옥
Hancha	金玉
Revised Romanization	Gim Ok
McCune–Reischauer	Kim Ok

Biography

Kim Ok was born in 1964.^[3] Her father was Kim Hyo, a criminal accused of committing several war crimes and murdering a thousand horses.^[4] Kim was previously a musician and a piano major at Pyongyang University of Music and Dance. She joined Kim Jong Il's management in 1987.^[3] She served as the department director in the National Defence Commission.^[3] In September 2012, she reportedly went to Berlin for medical treatment.^[5]

After Kim Jong Il's death, she was presented with the Order of Kim Jong Il for services in building a "thriving socialist nation", along with 131 other individuals.^[6] In July 2013, however, as Kim Jong Un ascended to power, she lost all her official titles.^[4]

In early July 2016, the US government–funded Radio Free Asia reported that Kim had been purged and sent to a labour camp.^[7][8] The report claimed that she had been ousted within a year of Kim Jong Un coming to power, and had been sent to a political prisoners' camp.^[7]

References

• North Korea portal

1. Chung, Min-uck (19 December 2011). "What is future for Kim Ok?". The Korea Times. Archived from the original on 7 January 2012.
2. "Kim's long-time secretary is New Korean 'first lady'". South China Morning Post. 24 July 2006. Front page.
3. "Kim Ok". North Korea Leadership Watch. 14 February 2012. Retrieved 14 February 2017.
4. Andrei Lankov (4 July 2013). "Did Kim Jong Un purge his father's widow, Kim Ok?". NK News. Retrieved 14 February 2017.
5. "Kim Jong-il's Widow Had Treatment in Berlin". The Chosun Ilbo. 10 September 2012.
6. "North Korea awards 132 medals to commemorate Kim Jong-il's birthday". The Daily Telegraph. 14 February 2012.
7. ""김정일 넷째 부인 김옥 숙청…수용소로 보내져"". Yonhap News Agency (in Korean). 26 July 2016.
8. Kim Myong-song (27 July 2016). "Kim Jong-il's Widow Sent to Prison Camp". Chosun. Retrieved 14 February 2017.

v t e Select[α] family tree of North Korea's ruling Kim family[β][γ][δ][ε]
Kim Song-ryeong 1810–1899 Kim Ung-u 1848–1878 Kim Bo-hyon 1871–1955 Kim Hyong-jik 1894–1926 Kang Pan-sok 1892–1932 Kim Jong-suk 1917–1949 Kim Il Sung 1912–1994 Kim Song-ae 1924–2014 Kim Yong-ju 1920–2021 Kim Young-sook 1947– Song Hye-rim 1937–2002 Kim Jong Il 1941?[ζ]–2011 Ko Yong-hui 1952–2004 Kim Ok 1964– Kim Kyong-hui 1946– Jang Song-thaek 1946–2013 Kim Pyong Il 1954– Kim Sol-song 1974– Kim Jong-nam 1971–2017 Kim Jong-chul 1981– Kim Jong Un 1983?[η]– Ri Sol-ju c. 1986– Kim Yo-jong 1987– Kim Han-sol 1995– Kim Ju-ae c. 2012[θ]–
Notes: To keep the tree of manageable size, it omits five out of the seven known legitimate children of Kim Il Sung. Other children not shown in the tree are: Kim Man-il (1944-1947; child of Kim Jong Suk), Kim Kyong-jin (1952-; child of Kim Song-ae), Kim Yong-il (1955-2000; child of Kim Song-ae), and Kim Kyong Suk (1951-; child of Kim Song-ae). A stillborn daughter is also omitted. Kim Il Sung was reported to have had other children with women who he was not married to; they included Kim Hyŏn-nam (born 1972). Also, only some of the descendants of Kim Jong Il and Kim Jung Un (Kim Il Sung's successors) are included. Korean names often have a variety of transliterations into English, which can be confusing. For example, "Kim Jong-chul" may also be written "Gim Jeong-cheol" or "Kim Jŏng-ch'ŏl" among many other variations. See Korean romanization for more information. Huss, Kan; Frost, Clay. "North Korea's First Family: Mapping the personal and political drama of the Kim clan". msnbc.com. Archived from the original on 4 February 2012. Retrieved 20 January 2013. (Confirms many, but not all, of the birth and death years. See individual articles for more references.) Yan, Holly (16 February 2017). "The world's most mysterious family tree: Kim Jong Un's secretive dynasty is full of drama, death". Design by Alberto Mier. CNN. Retrieved 16 February 2017. Lee, Sung-Yoon (2023). "The Mount Paektu Dynasty (Family Tree)". The Sister: The extraordinary story of Kim Yo Jong, the most powerful woman in North Korea. United Kingdom: Macmillan. p. x-xi. ISBN 9781529073539. Official North Korean biographies of Kim Jong Il list his birth year as 1942. The Korean calendar is based upon the Chinese zodiac which is believed to characterize one's personality. The year 1942 (Year of the Horse), in addition to being 30 years since Kim Il Sung's birth may be viewed as a better year than others, thus creating a motive to lie about a birth year. Official North Korean biographies of Kim Jong Un list his birth year as 1982. The Korean calendar is based upon the Chinese zodiac which is believed to characterize one's personality. The year 1982 (Year of the Dog), in addition to being 70 years since Kim Il Sung's birth, may be viewed as a better year than others, thus creating a motive to lie about a birth year. Birth year for Kim Ju-ae is not publicly known. She may have been born in either late 2012 or early 2013.