Kim Ok (; born 28 August 1964) is a former North Korean government employee who served as

Kim Jong Il Kim Jong Il (born Yuri Kim; 16 February 1941 or 1942 – 17 December 2011) was a North Korean politician who was the second Supreme Leader (North Korean title), supreme leader of North Korea from Death and state funeral of Kim Il Sung, the de ...

's personal secretary from the 1980s until his death in 2011. After the death of Ko Yong Hui in August 2004, she regularly met with foreign officials as the ''de facto'' first lady of North Korea, and was rumored to be the

supreme leader A supreme leader or supreme ruler typically refers to powerful figures with an unchallenged authority, such as autocrats, dictators to spiritual and revolutionary leaders. Historic examples are Adolf Hitler () of Nazi Germany, Francisco ...

's fourth wife.

Biography

Kim Ok was born in 1964. Her father was Kim Hyo, a criminal accused of committing several war crimes and killing a thousand horses. Kim was previously a musician and a piano major at Pyongyang University of Music and Dance. She joined Kim Jong Il's management in 1987. She served as the department director in the

National Defence Commission The National Defence Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (NDC) was the highest state institution for military and national defence leadership in North Korea, which also served as the highest governing institution of the countr ...

. In September 2012, she reportedly went to Berlin for medical treatment. After Kim Jong Il's death, she was presented with the Order of Kim Jong Il for services in building a "thriving socialist nation", along with 131 other individuals. In July 2013, however, as

Kim Jong Un Kim Jong Un (born 8 January 1983 or 1984) is a North Korean politician and dictator who has served as supreme leader of North Korea since 2011 and general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) since 2012. He is the third son of Kim ...

ascended to power, she lost all her official titles. In early July 2016, the US government–funded ''

Radio Free Asia Radio Free Asia (RFA) is a news service that publishes online news, information, commentary and broadcasts radio programs for its audiences in Asia. The service, which provides editorially independent reporting, has the stated mission of pro ...

'' reported that Kim had been purged and sent to a

labour camp A labor camp (or labour camp, see British and American spelling differences, spelling differences) or work camp is a detention facility where inmates are unfree labour, forced to engage in penal labor as a form of punishment. Labor camps have ...

. The report claimed that she had been ousted within a year of Kim Jong Un coming to power, and had been sent to a political prisoners' camp.

References

1964 births North Korean musicians Purges in North Korea Living people Kim family (North Korea) Recipients of the Order of Kim Jong Il Place of birth missing (living people) {{NorthKorea-politician-stub