NORTH Korean dictator Kim Jong-un is thought to have three children aged between 10 and three.
With the despot allegedly in grave condition after botched heart surgery, speculation has swirled about how the Supreme Leader will continue his dynasty.
Kim Jong-un reportedly has three children with his wife Ri Sol-ju, and they are thought to be aged between 10 and three.
The North Korean leader allegedly confirmed that he had children in a conversation with United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in April 2018.
In a discussion in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang about denuclearisation, Mr Kim said he did not want his children to carry the burden of nuclear weapons when they took over from him.
According to former CIA official Andrew Kim, who accompanied Mr Pompeo on the trip, Mr Kim said: “I’m a father and a husband. And I have children.”
He added: “And I don’t have my children to carry the nuclear weapon on their back their whole life.”
Analysts of the secretive state say that Ri Sol-ju had her first son with Mr Kim in 2010.
Cheong Seong-chang, a senior research fellow at the Sejong Institute in South Korea, told the Korea Times that the pair married in 2009, and she gave birth to their first child the following year.
News of the couple’s second child broke in an unlikely manner, when former NBA star Dennis Rodman visited North Korea in 2013.
Mr Rodman, who has struck up a friendship with the country’s dictator, revealed that Ri Sol-ju had given birth to a baby daughter when he returned.
He later told The Guardian that her name is Kim Ju-ae, and praised the despot’s parenting skills.
He said: “I held their baby Ju-ae and spoke with Ms Ri as well. He’s a good dad and has a beautiful family.”
Finally, in August 2017, South Korean intelligence reports said that Mr Kim’s wife had given birth to a third child.
Rumours about Ms Ri being pregnant again had spread after she was absent from the public eye for nearly nine months.
According to the Korea Herald, South Korea’s National Intelligence Service announced the findings during a parliamentary session, but did not confirm the gender or name of the baby.
It is widely thought that Mr Kim wants a male child in order to guarantee the continuation of his family’s dynasty.
With the North Korean dictator allegedly in grave condition after a botched heart operation on April 12, his line of succession has been subject to even more scrutiny.
His sister, Kim Yo-jong, is seen as the frontrunner to replace her brother as supreme leader if he were to die, but the country has never had a female leader.
