A woman believed to be North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's fourth wife and the de facto first lady was spotted among his entourage on the recent visit to China.

The woman with a bob sitting behind Kim Yong-il, the apparatchik in charge of international affairs and an old China hand, is assumed to be Kim Ok (46) in the photo on the left. The pictures were taken last Thursday during a meeting between Kim Jong-il and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.

The same woman was also captured at a welcome dinner hosted by Chinese President Hu Jintao on Wednesday and on Thursday when Kim visited a bioscience center in Beijing.

A piano major at university in Pyongyang, she is believed to have married the leader in 2004, when his third wife Ko Yong-hee died. Kim Ok also accompanied him on his visit to China in January 2006 and met Hu and other top Chinese officials at a state dinner.