It has emerged that Ri Sol Joo, the 23-year old wife of Kim Jong Eun, may have visited Japan in 2002.
A Japan-based North Korea human rights NGO, ‘Rescue the North Korean People! Urgent Action Network’ (RENK), revealed the news today, claiming that Ri attended an arts festival in Fukuoka as a member of the Chosun Children’s Union.
The ‘East Asia Children’s Art Festival’ was organized by UNESCO over two days that year, August 1st to 3rd. Ri was supposedly one of the members of the North Korean delegation.
At the time, she was said to be in the 2nd grade of a Pyongyang middle school for students with talent in the visual and performance arts. During the festival, she apparently gave a performance of song and dance along with the other members of the 20-strong North Korean delegation. She was registered as ‘Ri Sol Joo (李雪珠), 13.’
Ri was frequently in attendance at inter-Korean exchange events during the same period, so it is no surprise to find that she also went to Japan.
In March of 2003 she participated in the ‘South-North Youth Red Cross Friendship Tree Planting,’ a joint event for young people held at Mt. Geumgang. Then, in July 2004 she took part in a debate meeting related to the implementation of the June 15th Joint Statement at the Kim Jong Suk recreation center, again at Mt. Keumkang, Finally, in September 2005 she came to Incheon in South Korea as part of a cheering squad at an athletic event.
