Searching for Kim Yo Jong’s spouse

“I will pay 500 million Hong Kong dollars to the man who will marry my daughter.” This is the condition Hong Kong billionaire Cecil Chao put forward to find a candidate for the spouse of his daughter, who was 31 at the time. Men around the world were highly keen on the offer, but there was a catch. His daughter was a lesbian, and had married a woman in France earlier.

Her father, who was a well-known playboy, never wanted to give up. He raised the "dowry" to 1 billion Hong Kong dollars two years later in displaying his invincible commitment to find a spouse for his beloved daughter. Sick and tired of his efforts, the daughter sent an open letter. The letter suggested that the father and the daughter do not interfere with each other’s love affairs. Recent news reports suggest that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un rolled up his sleeves to find a spouse for his younger sister, Yo Jong (28). Kim Yo Jong, who Kim reportedly cherishes deeply, is effectively No. 2 person in the Stalinist country. What would be eligibilities to become Yo Jong’s man?

Quoting a North Korean defector, U.K. daily The Sun’reported that Kim Jong Un is assessing some 30 men whose eligibilities include ‘graduate of Kim Il Sung University, 178 centimeters or taller in height, good-looking, and completion of service with the North Korean People’s Liberation Army.’ Since no one can dare to reject ‘nomination,’ a Pyongyang version of soap opera full of nonsense and unethical episodes may become a reality: Just like a main male character whose entire family as well as himself struggle after marrying a haughty daughter of a superrich or power elite family, in soap operas. None has been confirmed about her private life as a member of the ‘Baekdu (Kim Il Sung) blood’ family. Some news reports suggested that she was married to a son of Choe Ryong Hae, but the reports proved groundless after news spread that Kim Yo Jong talked down to Choe. Japanese chef Kenji Hujimoto, who visited Pyongyang recently, said, “I was told she is single.”

Whether Kim Yo Jong has a husband or not is not an important matter, since it has nothing to do with North Korean nuclear weapons or missiles. However, it spawns doubt about the credibility of the South Korean intelligence authority, since it has continuously collected inaccurate information despite keen interest in her marital status. In the parliamentary Intelligence Committee in April last year, the National Intelligence Service even suggested a date for her expected delivery date, saying “Kim Yo Jong will give birth in May (2015),” and if “Yo Jong is still a single,” the spy agency has lost face big time. Critics may as well deride the agency, by saying that the NIS is inferior in intelligence gathering capacity to even yellow journalism media outlets that have gained reputations for stories unconditionally revealing love affairs between top entertainers. Anyway, would it be a good or bad thing for a guy to marry the younger sister of the North’s ‘Supreme Dignity’?

고미석기자 mskoh119@donga.com