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The mysterious lives of the 3 kids who are believed to be Kim Jong Un's

The mysterious lives of the 3 kids who are believed to be Kim Jong Un's

Most sources agree that Kim and his wife have had three children since their secretive marriage in 2009.

Kim's first child is believed to be a boy, born in 2010, and his second child was likely a daughter born in 2013. The fact that Kim has at least one male heir likely means that he will eventually succeed Kim and continue the family's dictatorship dynasty.

Source: CNN

The gender of Kim's third child, however, remains unknown. The child is believed to have been born in February 2017.

Source: Business Insider

Kim's daughter is named Ju-ae, according to Dennis Rodman, who said he met the child in 2013. "I held their baby Ju-ae and spoke with Ms. Ri as well. [Kim's] a good dad and has a beautiful family," Rodman told The Guardian.

Source: The Guardian

The kids' exact ages and birth years have been difficult to pin down, but can be roughly inferred from the lengthy periods in which Ri has mysteriously vanished from public life.

Source: Business Insider

In late 2016, media outlets began noticing that Ri had not been seen for roughly seven months, sparking fears that she had perhaps fallen out of favor with Kim.

Sources: Fox News, Chosun Ilbo

But intelligence sources later reported that the absence had most likely been due to her pregnancy and that she had given birth in early 2017.

Sources: Fox News, Chosun Ilbo

Similarly, news outlets speculated on her prolonged public absence back in 2012, which was later attributed to a pregnancy.

Sources: HuffPost, Chosun Ilbo

There are no public photos of Kim and Ri's children, but the couple do occasionally pose for propaganda photos with other people's kids, like in this photo at a children's hospital in 2014.

Or this photo at a children's camp in 2013.

The fact that Kim's children are so young could be one of the reasons Kim promoted his sister to a top position in his government two months ago — the head of the propaganda department of the Worker's Party of Korea.

Source: The New York Times

Some have speculated she could take over in case something happens to him before his kids are old enough to rule.

Source: The New York Times

But there's no guarantee she'll be protected for long. Kim is known to turn on family members quickly when they fall out of favor. It's widely suspected that he orchestrated the plot to murder his half-brother Kim Jong Nam earlier this year.

Source: PBS

The secrecy around Kim's children is not unusual for his family — there are still contested claims over the number of children and wives Kim's father and grandfather had.

Kim Il Sung, who was in power until his 1994 death, probably had six children and two wives.

Source: CNN

Kim Jong Il, who ruled North Korea until his death in 2011, is believed to have had seven children with four women, only one of whom was his legal wife. His third son, Kim Jong Un, sidelined his older brothers to become the new supreme leader of the Hermit Kingdom.

Source: CNN

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The mysterious lives of the 3 kids who are believed to be Kim Jong Un's

Most sources agree that Kim and his wife have had three children since their secretive marriage in 2009.

Kim's first child is believed to be a boy, born in 2010, and his second child was likely a daughter born in 2013. The fact that Kim has at least one male heir likely means that he will eventually succeed Kim and continue the family's dictatorship dynasty.

The gender of Kim's third child, however, remains unknown. The child is believed to have been born in February 2017.

Kim's daughter is named Ju-ae, according to Dennis Rodman, who said he met the child in 2013. "I held their baby Ju-ae and spoke with Ms. Ri as well. [Kim's] a good dad and has a beautiful family," Rodman told The Guardian.

The kids' exact ages and birth years have been difficult to pin down, but can be roughly inferred from the lengthy periods in which Ri has mysteriously vanished from public life.

In late 2016, media outlets began noticing that Ri had not been seen for roughly seven months, sparking fears that she had perhaps fallen out of favor with Kim.

But intelligence sources later reported that the absence had most likely been due to her pregnancy and that she had given birth in early 2017.

Similarly, news outlets speculated on her prolonged public absence back in 2012, which was later attributed to a pregnancy.

There are no public photos of Kim and Ri's children, but the couple do occasionally pose for propaganda photos with other people's kids, like in this photo at a children's hospital in 2014.

Or this photo at a children's camp in 2013.

The fact that Kim's children are so young could be one of the reasons Kim promoted his sister to a top position in his government two months ago — the head of the propaganda department of the Worker's Party of Korea.

Some have speculated she could take over in case something happens to him before his kids are old enough to rule.

But there's no guarantee she'll be protected for long. Kim is known to turn on family members quickly when they fall out of favor. It's widely suspected that he orchestrated the plot to murder his half-brother Kim Jong Nam earlier this year.

The secrecy around Kim's children is not unusual for his family — there are still contested claims over the number of children and wives Kim's father and grandfather had.

Kim Il Sung, who was in power until his 1994 death, probably had six children and two wives.

Kim Jong Il, who ruled North Korea until his death in 2011, is believed to have had seven children with four women, only one of whom was his legal wife. His third son, Kim Jong Un, sidelined his older brothers to become the new supreme leader of the Hermit Kingdom.

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