Kim Young-sook


Kim Young-sook was the third wife of Kim Jong-il. She was the daughter of a high-ranking military official, and was a switchboard operator in North Hamgyong Province before moving to Pyongyang. Kim Jong-il's father, Kim Il-sung, handpicked her to marry his son. The two had been estranged for some years before his death. Kim Young-sook had a daughter from this marriage, Kim Sul-song. She was First Lady of North Korea from 1994 to late 2011.
Song Hye-rang, the sister of Kim Jong-il's second wife Song Hye-rim, mentioned that she is "insignificant to Kim Jong-il, apart from being a legitimate wife in front of Kim Il-sung. She did not even have an identity card in North Korea" as noted in her memoir Rattan house.