The silence from Pyongyang on Kim Jong Un’s maternal lineage has exposed the fault lines in North Korea’s dynastic propaganda machine. While the regime obsesses over the Kim family’s legitimacy, the absence of any official narrative around the leader’s mother, Ko Yong-hui, leaves a vacuum that speaks volumes. For a state that demands total control over its history, this omission is not accidental.
It hints at a fragility within the cult of personality, where secrets are both a weapon and a weakness. Ko Yong-hui, a former dancer with a Japanese-born father, does not fit the pure revolutionary bloodline the regime cherishes. Her obscurity in official records contrasts sharply with the idolisation of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il.
This silence may be an effort to shield the dynasty from uncomfortable questions about ethnic purity and power succession. But in a country where every gesture is scripted, the refusal to address the mother’s background is a crack in the facade. For the outside world, it is a rare glimpse into the compromises and contradictions that sustain the Kim dynasty.
