A team of British historians has published a study tracing the maternal lineage of Kim Jong Un, the North Korean leader, revealing a previously obscured family tree that challenges the regime's official narrative. The research, led by scholars at the University of Cambridge and the Royal Historical Society, draws on defector testimonies, Soviet-era archives, and diplomatic cables to reconstruct the life of Kim Jong Un’s mother, Ko Yong Hui. Born in Osaka, Japan, to Korean parents, Ko Yong Hui was a dancer and later a political instructor.
The study argues that her background was systematically erased from state records to project an image of pure revolutionary lineage. The findings have implications for understanding succession dynamics and the regime's reliance on manufactured legitimacy. The historians emphasise that their work is based on fragmentary evidence but provides the most comprehensive account to date.
The North Korean government has not commented.
