The first lady of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (), more commonly known as the first lady of North Korea, is the title given to the wife of the

supreme leader of North Korea The supreme leader () of North Korea is the ''de facto'' paramount leader of the Workers' Party of Korea, the state and the Korean People's Army. The title has not been written into the national constitution as a separate office, but it currentl ...

. However, only two wives of the supreme leader have received this title: the inaugural holder

Kim Song-ae Kim Song-ae (; born Kim Song-pal; 29 December 1924 – September 2014) was a North Korean politician who served as the first lady of North Korea from 1963 to 1974. She was the second wife of North Korea's founder, Kim Il-sung. Biography Born Kim ...

, the second wife of

Kim Il-sung Kim Il-sung (; , ; born Kim Song-ju, ; 15 April 1912 – 8 July 1994) was a North Korean politician and the founder of North Korea, which he ruled from the country's establishment in 1948 until his death in 1994. He held the posts of ...

; and the incumbent

Ri Sol-ju Ri Sol-ju (; born 1985–1989) is the current First Lady of North Korea as the wife of Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un. Little is known about her from official North Korean sources, but outside sources have speculated more about her background. ...

, the wife of

Kim Jong-un Kim Jong-un (; , ; born 8 January 1982) is a North Korean politician who has been Supreme Leader of North Korea since 2011 and the leader of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) since 2012. He is a son of Kim Jong-il, who was North Korea's sec ...

History

During the administration of President

assumed the duties of first lady in 1963, 11 years after the marriage. The position was left vacant under the leadership of General Secretary

Kim Jong-il Kim Jong-il (; ; ; born Yuri Irsenovich Kim;, 16 February 1941 – 17 December 2011) was a North Korean politician who was the second supreme leader of North Korea from 1994 to 2011. He led North Korea from the 1994 death of his father Kim ...

, who married twice and had three domestic partnerships at different times. The position was re-established under

in April 2018 when

, whom he married in 2009, was elevated to "Respected

First Lady First lady is an unofficial title usually used for the wife, and occasionally used for the daughter or other female relative, of a non-monarchical A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state fo ...

". The term had not been used since 1974, when it described Kim Song-ae. Ri was previously called "comrade" by state media; the promotion occurred ahead of the

April 2018 inter-Korean summit The April 2018 Inter-Korean summit took place on 27 April 2018 on the South Korean side of the Joint Security Area, between Moon Jae-in, President of South Korea, and Kim Jong-un, Chairman of the Workers' Party of Korea and Supreme Leader of ...

where Ri and the

first lady of South Korea The first lady of the Republic of Korea (, informally referred to as FLOTROK or FLOSK), commonly known as the first lady of South Korea, is the titled held by the hostess of the Presidential Residence of South Korea, presidential residence, usual ...

Kim Jung-sook Kim Jung-sook ( ko, 김정숙; born 15 November 1954) is a South Korean Classical music, classical singer who served as first lady of South Korea from 2017 to 2022, as the wife of the 12th president of South Korea Moon Jae-in. Overview Kim' ...

, were in attendance.

List of first ladies of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea

The following is a list of the first ladies of North Korea.

History

List of first ladies of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea

See also

References

Further reading