464: Ko Yong-hui
Kim Jong-il’s Wife and Kim Jong-Un’s Mother
Born: 26 June 1953, Osaka, Japan
Died: 24 May 2004, Paris, France
Also Known As: Ko Young-hee or Ko Yong-hŭi
She was a famous stage actress and was given the title of “Respected Mother” by her husband. What might be even more surprising is that she was born to an ethnically Korean father and an ethnically Japanese mother. Japan and North Korea are not, friendly, to say the least.
Yong-hui was killed in a car accident (or possibly died from a strange illness, or breast cancer, no one really seems to know).
Her sister, Ko Yong-Suk, defected from North Korea over twenty years ago with her husband and three children and is now living in the United States. In 1998, Yong-Suk and her husband decided to leave North Korea after Yong-hui was diagnosed with terminal breast cancer.
Badges Earned:
Find a Grave Marked
Sources:
https://www.nknews.org/2018/03/cults-of-the-forgotten-wives-kim-song-ae-and-ko-yong-hui/
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/179574701/yong_hui-ko
https://www.visitthedprk.org/the-little-known-story-of-kim-jong-uns-mother-ko-yong-hui/