Publicly bringing out his aunt after six years may mean that Kim Jong-un is trying to solidify support behind his upcoming policies from those who may still be supportive of his aunt’s husband Jang Song-taek who he executed:
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un attends a Lunar New Year performance with family members and high-ranking officials at the Samjiyon Theater in Pyongyang, Saturday, in this footage aired by the state-run Korean Central Television the following day. From left are Kim, his wife Ri Sol-ju, aunt Kim Kyong-hui, sister Kim Yo-jong and Jo Yong-won, a close aide to the leader. Yonhap
Kim Kyong-hui, the aunt of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and a once-influential figure in the country’s leadership, has made her first public appearance in six years, quashing rumors that she had been killed or sent into exile. She had been out of the public eye since her husband Jang Song-thaek was executed in December 2013.
According to North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency, Sunday, the North Korean leader had attended a Lunar New Year performance the day before at the Samjiyon Theater in Pyongyang with his family members and high-ranking officials including his wife Ri Sol-ju, aunt Kim Kyong-hui, sister Kim Yo-jong, the country’s de facto second-in-command Choe Ryong-hae and other top officials Ri Il-hwan, Jo Yong-won and Hyon Song-wol.
I will take the word of a South Korean official over an anonymous defector:
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s aunt, Kim Kyong-hui, is still alive although she is “in a vegetative state,” according to a government official Wednesday.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, rejected growing speculation that Kim, 68, either died by natural causes or was executed by her nephew.
The official, however, said her health has deteriorated after stepping down from all posts in the tyrannical state.
“Kim Jong-un executed Jang Song-thaek, but he is taking care of his aunt and letting her live,” the official said. [Korea Times]
You can read more at the link, but when it comes to some of these type of accounts around Kim Jong-un from defectors it appears to me they just repeat rumors or exaggerate what they know.
Kim Kyong-hui (inside the red circle), the aunt of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, is shown on state television on Oct. 12, 2014, reinforcing views that she hasn’t been removed from the country’s power elite despite the execution of her once powerful husband, Jang Song-thaek. (Yonhap)
