Respected Mother

Ko Yong Hui
고용희
Born(1952-06-26)26 June 1952
Osaka, Japan
Died13 August 2004(2004-08-13) (aged 52)
Paris, France
Resting placeMount Taesong, Pyongyang
Partner(s)Kim Jong Il
(1977–2004)
ChildrenKim Jong-chul
Kim Jong Un
Kim Yo Jong
Korean name
Chosŏn'gŭl
고용희
Hancha
Revised RomanizationGo Yonghui
McCune–ReischauerKo Yonghŭi

Ko Yong Hui[1] (Korean: 고용희; Korean pronunciation: [ko̞.jo̞ŋ.βwi]; 26 June 1952 – 13 August 2004),[2][3][4] also spelled Ko Young-hee, was the consort 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".[5][6][7]

Biography

Born in the Koreatown of Osaka, Japan,[8][9] Ko's birth date and Japanese name in Japanese official records are 26 June 1952 and Takada Hime (高田姫), respectively.[4] Her father, Ko Gyon-tek, worked in an Osaka sewing factory run by Japan's ministry of war,[10][11] a 16th-generation descendant of the Joseon scholar official, Go Deuk-jong. She, along with her family, moved to North Korea in May 1961 or 1962 as part of a repatriation program.[4][12] In the early 1970s, she began working as a dancer for the Mansudae Art Troupe in Pyongyang.[13] Her younger sister Ko Yong-suk sought asylum from the U.S. embassy in Bern, Switzerland, while she was living there taking care of Kim Jong Un during his school days, according to South Korea's National Intelligence Service; U.S. officials arranged Ko Yong-suk's departure from the country without consulting South Korean officials.[14]

It is thought that Ko and Kim Jong Il first met in 1972.[13] In 1981, Ko had a son 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.[15][16] However, the birth year of Kim Yo-jong is also given as 1987.[13]

On 27 August 2004, various sources reported that she had died in Paris from an unspecific illness, probably of breast cancer.[17] However, there is another report, 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.[18]

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.[4]

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, mother of Kim Jong Il and the first wife of Kim Il Sung.[19] These previous attempts at idolization failed and were stopped after Kim Jong Il's 2008 stroke.[4]

The building of a cult of personality around Ko encounters the problem of her bad songbun due to her Japanese mother, even though it is usually passed on by the father.[20] Making her identity public would have undermined the Kim family's pure bloodline,[4] and after Kim Jong Il's death, her personal information, including her name, became state secrets.[19] 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 Mount Taesong.[21][22]

References

  1. ↑ "North Korea leader lies in state". BBC. 18 December 2011. Archived from the original on 2 December 2011.
  2. ↑ Yoo Kwang-seok (9 December 2015). 김정은 이모부 "고영희 본명은 고용희...권력 비정함 때문에 망명". KBS News (in Korean). Seoul. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  3. ↑ Kim Jong-hyeon (2 August 2012). 北 김정은 어머니 고영희 묘비명은 '고용희'. Yonhap (in Korean). Tokyo. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Ko Young-ki (26 June 2012). "Happy Birthday, Koh Young Hee". Daily NK. Retrieved 29 March 2013.
  5. ↑ 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
  6. ↑ French, Paul (2007) North Korea: the paranoid peninsula - a modern history (2nd edition) Zed Books, London, page 267, ISBN 978-1-84277-905-7
  7. ↑ Yang Jung-a (30 June 2012). "North Korea: The Glorification Nation". Daily NK. Retrieved 29 March 2013.
  8. ↑ Carrigan, Liam (6 March 2020). "Ikuno Ward: Osaka's Own Korea Town". Osaka.com. Retrieved 20 September 2023.
  9. ↑ Kokita, Kiyohito (1 December 2010). "Osaka black mark in Kim's life?". Asahi Shimbun. Retrieved 3 December 2010.; see Kokita Kiyohito, Tessa Morris-Suzuki and Mark Selden, Ko Tae Mun, Ko Chung Hee, and the Osaka Family Origins of North Korean Successor Kim Jong Un, The Asia-Pacific Journal Vol 9, Issue 1 No 2, 3 January 2011.
  10. ↑ Ko Dong-hwan (24 December 2013). "NK leader's secret 'pro-Japanese' family history revealed". The Korea Times. Seoul. Archived from the original on 11 December 2015. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  11. ↑ Mark Willacy, Kim Jong-un's grandfather 'was Japanese collaborator', ABC News 11 May 2012
  12. ↑ Takahashi, Kosuke (14 July 2012). "Young general comes out as mother's boy". Asia Times. Archived from the original on 13 July 2012. Retrieved 29 March 2013.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  13. 1 2 3 Ko Young-ki (31 May 2011). "Ko Young Hee Image Uncovered". Daily NK. Retrieved 29 March 2013.
  14. ↑ "Kim Jong-un's aunt fled to U.S.; She and husband sought asylum in 1998, had cosmetic surgery". JoongAng Ilbo. 5 November 2013. Retrieved 9 November 2013.
  15. ↑ Lee Young-jong; Kim Hee-jin (8 August 2012). "Kim Jong-un's sister is having a ball". Korea JoongAng Daily. Archived from the original on 11 August 2012. Retrieved 8 August 2012.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  16. ↑ "Kim Yo Jong". North Korea Leadership Watch. 11 July 2012. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  17. ↑ Hart, Joyce (2007) Kim Jong II: Leader of North Korea Rosen Publishing Group, New York, page 60, ISBN 978-1-4042-1901-4
  18. ↑ Brooke, James (27 August 2004). "A Mystery About a Mistress in North Korea". The New York Times. Retrieved 29 March 2013.
  19. 1 2 Cho Jong-ik (30 July 2012). ""Great Mother" revealed to World". Daily NK. Retrieved 1 July 2012.
  20. ↑ Andrei Lankov (3 December 2011). "North Korea's new class system". Asia Times. Archived from the original on 3 December 2011. Retrieved 1 July 2012.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  21. ↑ "Ko Yong-hui Grave". Radio Free Asia. 30 March 2016. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
  22. ↑ Curtis Melvin (8 April 2016). "Kim Jong-un's mother's grave (Ko Yong-hui)". NK Economy Watch. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
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