By Hyonhee Shin
SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korean leader Ri Sol Ju Kim Jong Un appeared in state media for the first time in more than a year on Wednesday, taking her husband to a concert on one of the biggest holidays the country joined.
Official ruling Worker’s Party newspaper Rodong Sinmun released photos of the couple during the event to celebrate the birthday of Kim’s late father and former leader Kim Jong Il.
Ri regularly accompanies Kim to major public events, but has not been seen since January last year during an event for the lunar New Year holiday, sparking speculation about her health and potential pregnancy.
South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) told lawmakers on Tuesday that Ri had apparently refrained from outside activities to ward off coronavirus infections, but that he had ‘played well with their children’.
According to the NIS, Ri and Kim have three children. Little is publicly known about the trio.
North Korea has not confirmed any COVID-19 cases, but the NIS said an outbreak could not be ruled out as the country had been active with China, where the virus first originated, before the border was closed early last year.
Ri and Kim smile as they watch the concert at Mansudae Art Theater in the capital of Pyongyang. Unlike several previous events, no one in the photos published by Rodong Sinmun wore masks or maintained social distance measures.
The newspaper also reported that Kim visited the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, which houses the embalmed bodies of his father and grandfather, to lay wreaths for the anniversary, called the Day of the Shining Star.
(Reported by Hyonhee Shin; edited by Jane Wardell)