North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has given his young, stylish wife the title of First Lady in what analysts say is a major boost to her status ahead of back-to-back summits with South Korea and the United States. “Promoting Ri Sol Ju is the most effective marketing strategy,” An Chan-il, a defector researcher who runs the World Institute for North Korea Studies, told AFP. South Korean intelligence reports have described her as coming from an ordinary family with a teacher father and a doctor mother. Ko, an ethnic Korean from Japan, had three children with Kim’s father and predecessor Kim Jong Il, but had a low profile throughout her 28-year marriage. “I think Kim Jong Un’s trauma of watching his own mother living in the shadows also factored in,” said Shin Beom-chul, an analyst at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies.

Source: The Guardian April 19, 2018 08:37 UTC