Is Ri Sol Ju, the wife of Kim Jong Un, pregnant with the North Korean supreme leader's first child? Rumors are swirling across the world, but no one's talking.
This could easily be a celebrity gossip story about a movie star (or at least Kate Middleton), but the fact that it's the world's most reclusive nation offers a new twist.
Ri Sol Ju, the wife of young leader Kim Jong Un, who took over for his father Kim Jong Il, had not been seen in public for around two months, according to reports.
A photo released by the state-run news agency KCNA shows her back in public and wearing a long coat that could be hiding a bump, some speculate.
Ri watched a football match and attended a musical concert with her husband Monday to mark the 60th anniversary of the Kim Il Sung Military University.
South Korean media has kicked into overdrive to speculate on whether she is pregnant or whether she was kept out of the public eye as a disciplinary measure.
Local media has claimed she may have fallen out of favor for not wearing a lapel pin of the former leaders, a requirement for adult North Koreans.
"Rumors first came out from officials who attended the same event," said Kim Yong-hoon, head of the North Korean desk at Daily NK, a newspaper based in Seoul.
"They started questioning and speculating if she was pregnant and it has spread throughout the country and that's how we heard about the rumors."
Kim says the interest in whether Ri is pregnant is far higher outside of North Korea than it is inside, according to his sources inside the isolated nation.
This could easily be a celebrity gossip story about a movie star (or at least Kate Middleton), but the fact that it's the world's most reclusive nation offers a new twist.
Ri Sol Ju, the wife of young leader Kim Jong Un, who took over for his father Kim Jong Il, had not been seen in public for around two months, according to reports.
A photo released by the state-run news agency KCNA shows her back in public and wearing a long coat that could be hiding a bump, some speculate.
Ri watched a football match and attended a musical concert with her husband Monday to mark the 60th anniversary of the Kim Il Sung Military University.
South Korean media has kicked into overdrive to speculate on whether she is pregnant or whether she was kept out of the public eye as a disciplinary measure.
Local media has claimed she may have fallen out of favor for not wearing a lapel pin of the former leaders, a requirement for adult North Koreans.
"Rumors first came out from officials who attended the same event," said Kim Yong-hoon, head of the North Korean desk at Daily NK, a newspaper based in Seoul.
"They started questioning and speculating if she was pregnant and it has spread throughout the country and that's how we heard about the rumors."
Kim says the interest in whether Ri is pregnant is far higher outside of North Korea than it is inside, according to his sources inside the isolated nation.
