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Singer or sister? Speculation is rife over who this woman is. Photo: AFP/KCNA via KNS
A mystery woman pictured accompanying North Korea's new leader Kim Jong-un to recent events has prompted speculation in Seoul about whether she is his partner or his younger sister.
The North's state television on Sunday aired footage of the woman joining Kim Jong-un as he paid tribute to his late grandfather Kim Il-sung on the anniversary of his death in 1994.
Some South Korea media reports suggested she was Kim's younger sister Yo-Jong. Others suggested she may be Kim's wife or lover.
Top officials including ceremonial head of state Kim Yong-nam and army chief Ri Yong-ho accompanied the leader to Pyongyang's Kumsusan Palace, where the embalmed body of the nation's first president lies in state.
Who is she? Kim Jong-un is pictured during a visit to Kumsusan Palace with an unidentified woman. Photo: AFP/North Korean TV
The TV footage showed the woman, apparently in her twenties or thirties, walking next to the leader. She bowed with him before a portrait of Kim Il-sung.
The short-haired woman, clad in a black suit, was also pictured sitting next to Kim Jong-un at a concert by a state orchestra on Friday. Some South Korea media reports suggested she was Kim's younger sister Yo-Jong, who is believed to have studied in Switzerland along with him in the 1990s. Others suggested she may be Kim's wife or lover.
This screen grab shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, centre, with a mystery woman paying tribute to his late grandfather Kim Il-sung. Photo: AFP/North Korean TV
Seoul's intelligence agency and unification ministry, in charge of cross-border affairs, declined to comment.
The speculation highlighted the degree of secrecy in the North about the private lives of its rulers. Kim Jong-un took power after the death of his father Kim Jong-il last December but the outside world does not even know his exact age.
An unidentified woman pictured standing behind Kim Jong-un during mourning for his late father last December was identified by some sources as the new leader's younger sister.
JoongAng Ilbo newspaper said the woman pictured in recent days may be Hyon Song-wol, a famous state singer rumoured to be the leader's lover.
It said she disappeared from public view in 2006 but was seen on TV again in March, apparently late in pregnancy.
"Hyon was a friend of Kim since they were teenagers and there is a rumour among the North's elites that she was his lover," it quoted an unidentified Seoul intelligence official as saying.
But Yang Moo-jin of Seoul's University of North Korean Studies said there was "little chance" the mystery woman was Kim's partner, given that the country's past first ladies have rarely made public appearances with leaders.
"She could be Yo-Jong or perhaps a daughter of one of the mistresses of the late Kim Jong-il ... so that Jong-un can publicly showcase the solidarity in the ruling family," Yang said.
Pyongyang, April 13 (Xinhua) -- An earth observation satellite launched by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) earlier Friday morning has failed to enter orbit, and scientists and technicians are now looking into the cause of the failure, the official KCNA news agency reported.
The Kwangmyongsong-3 satellite was launched at the Sohae Satellite Launching Station in Cholsan County, North Phyongan Province at 07:38 a.m. on Friday (2238 GMT Thursday), said the report.
"The earth observation satellite failed to enter its preset orbit.Scientists, technicians and experts are now looking into the cause of the failure," it said.
The DPRK's failed launch has aroused international concerns, with the United States, Japan and South Korea all condemning the move, which they viewed had breached relevant UN resolutions.
The DPRK has said that its launch is for peaceful purposes and would not harm the region and neighboring countries.
This still from an Analytical Graphics, Inc., video animation depicts North Korea's Unha-3 rocket and Kwangmyongsong-3 satellite in the last leg of a potential orbital launch in April 2012. CREDIT: Analytical Graphics, Inc.View full size image North Korea Rocket Launch Envisioned in Video Animation via @SPACEdotcom
North Korea has launched its long-range rocket but the US, Japan and South Korea say it failed shortly after take-off and fell into the sea. There has been no word yet from Pyongyang on the launch.
North Korea says the aim of the rocket is to launch a satellite but critics say the launch constituted a disguised test of long-range missile technology banned under UN resolutions.
As the world watches and waits to see if North Korea will continue in its bid to launch a long-range rocket despite international warnings, a new video animation reveals just how the space test could occur.
The new video, released late Wednesday (April 11) by the analytical firm Analytical Graphics Inc., covers North Korea's planned Unha-3 rocket launch, showing the flight trajectory from a point just after liftoff through the separation of its satellite payload.
"AGI has used its software to produce a video demonstrating the launch and its possible path, tracking assets and landing zones," AGI officials wrote in a media alert.
North Korean space officials have said the Unha-3 rocket will launch a new Earth-observing satellite sometime between April 12 and April 16 to honor the 100th anniversary of the birth of Kim Il Sung, the founder of North Korea. Critics of the launch, which include the United States, Japan and South Korea, claim the launch is a cover for a missile test that violates United Nations Security Council resolutions. [Images: North Korea's Rocket and Missile Program]
According to AGI's video animation of the Unha-3 rocket launch, the three-stage booster will blast off from the new North Korean launch site near the northwest village of Tongchang-ri, which corresponds with official statements from North Korea and Western observers. The rocket will then head in a southerly direction and drop its first stage in the Yellow Sea well to the west of South Korea, where officials have said they would shoot down any parts of the Unha-3 territory that threatened to fall on South Korean territory.
The next stage of the Unha-3 rocket would likely fall just to the east of the Philippines after the booster's third stage and payload — the Earth-monitoring satellite Kwangmyongsong-3 — separates and heads towards orbit, the AGI animation shows.
If the Kwangmyongsong-3 satellite reaches its intended polar orbit, its trajectory would carry it over a major stretch of Australia after the spacecraft separates from the Unha-3 rocket, according to the AGI depiction.
North Korea's Unha-3 rocket appears to be a liquid-fueled rocket that stands about 100 feet (30 meters) tall. The Kwangmyongsong-3 satellite, meanwhile, is a boxy, solar-powered spacecraft, according to videos and images in media reports, as well as the AGI video.
Exactly which day of the current window North Korea will launch the Unha-3 rocket is not yet certain, though the country's space organization did begin fueling the rocket for liftoff on Wednesday, suggesting a potential launch attempt in upcoming days, according to press reports. Follow SPACE.com for the latest in space science and exploration news on Twitter @Spacedotcom and onFacebook.
This screen grab shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, centre, with a mystery woman paying tribute to his late grandfather Kim Il-sung. Photo: AFP/North Korean TV
