The wife of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has re-appeared after dropping out of the public eye for 50 days amid fevered rumours that she was either pregnant or had fallen out of favour.
North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said Ri Sol-ju joined her husband at a musical performance and a football match in Pyongyang on Monday.
“Marshall Kim Jong-un, the supreme leader of the party and the people, came to the spectators’ seats, accompanied by his wife Ri Sol-ju. At that moment, thunderous applause broke out,” KCNA said.
Kim took over the reins of power in North Korea following the death of his father, Kim Jong-il, last December.
The fact that he even had a wife was only revealed in July when pictures emerged of a stylish young woman accompanying the new young leader at official events.
A terse statement from Pyongyang’s state television that month confirmed her identity and the fact that the couple were married.