Kim Sul-song (Korean: 김설송; born 30 December 1973) is the daughter of North Korea's former leader Kim Jong Il and Kim Young-sook. She has been active within the propaganda department, been in charge of literary affairs, and previously led the security and schedule of her father as his secretary.^[1][2]

The name "Sol-song" literally means "snow pine," and was given by her grandfather, Kim Il Sung.^[1]

Sol-song was a favourite of her father. Like him, she attended Kim Il-sung University, majoring in economics. She may also have studied in Paris in the autumn of 2005.^[1] After graduating, she was assigned to the propaganda department of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea.^[1] She was in charge of literary affairs: all the signatures on works of literature coming into the department were signed by her.^[1]

Starting in the late 1990s, Sol-song was in charge of managing the security and schedule of Kim Jong-Il. She accompanied her father during trips to North Korean Army units and local villages. During these trips, she was observed wearing the uniform of a lieutenant colonel.^[1]

Sol-song was described by a North Korean defector as "intelligent" and "beautiful." She has hair down to her waist and is 1.65 meters (5 ft 5 in) tall.^[1]

Select[lower-greek 1] family tree of North Korea's ruling Kim family[lower-greek 2][lower-greek 3][lower-greek 4]
Kim Song-ryeong 1810–1899 Kim Ung-u 1848–1878 Kim Bo-hyon 1871–1955 Kim Hyong-jik 1894–1926 Kang Pan-sok 1892–1932 Kim Jong-suk 1917–1949 Kim Il Sung 1912–1994 Kim Song-ae 1924–2014 Kim Yong-ju 1920–2021 Kim Young-sook 1947– Song Hye-rim 1937–2002 Kim Jong Il 1941?[lower-greek 5]–2011 Ko Yong-hui 1952–2004 Kim Ok 1964– Kim Kyong-hui 1946– Jang Song-thaek 1946–2013 Kim Pyong Il 1954– Kim Sol-song 1974– Kim Jong-nam 1971–2017 Kim Jong-chul 1981– Kim Jong Un 1983?[lower-greek 6]– Ri Sol-ju c. 1986– Kim Yo-jong 1987– Kim Han-sol 1995– Kim Ju-ae c. 2012[lower-greek 7]–
Notes: ↑ To keep the tree of manageable size, it omits five out of the eight known children of Kim Il Sung. Other children not shown in the tree are: Kim Man-il, Kim Kyong-jin, Kim Yong-il, Kim Hyŏn-nam, and Kim Yŏng-il ↑ Korean names often have a variety of transliterations into English, which can be confusing. For example, "Kim Jong-chul" may also be written "Gim Jeong-cheol" or "Kim Jŏng-ch'ŏl" among many other variations. See Korean romanization for more information. ↑ Huss, Kan; Frost, Clay. "North Korea's First Family: Mapping the personal and political drama of the Kim clan". msnbc.com. Retrieved 20 January 2013. (Confirms many, but not all, of the birth and death years. See individual articles for more references.) ↑ Yan, Holly (16 February 2017). "The world's most mysterious family tree: Kim Jong Un's secretive dynasty is full of drama, death". Design by Alberto Mier. CNN. Retrieved 16 February 2017. ↑ Official North Korean biographies of Kim Jong Il list his birth year as 1942. The Korean calendar is based upon the Chinese zodiac which is believed to characterize one's personality. The year 1942 (Year of the Horse), in addition to being 30 years since Kim Il Sung's birth may be viewed as a better year than others, thus creating a motive to lie about a birth year. ↑ Official North Korean biographies of Kim Jong Un list his birth year as 1982. The Korean calendar is based upon the Chinese zodiac which is believed to characterize one's personality. The year 1982 (Year of the Dog), in addition to being 70 years since Kim Il Sung's birth, may be viewed as a better year than others, thus creating a motive to lie about a birth year. ↑ Birth year for Kim Ju-ae is not publicly known. She may have been born in either late 2012 or early 2013.

See also

• Women in North Korea

References