December 16, 2013 10:09
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's wife Ri Sol-ju was apparently unaffected by a purge that swept away Kim's uncle Jang Song-taek and his cronies.
State television on Friday broadcast 2012 footage of Ri and Kim as they paid homage to the embalmed corpse of nation founder Kim Il-sung and his son Kim Jong-il at the opening of the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun in Pyongyang.
Ri is shown for about 20 seconds as she walks next to her husband, apparently to quell rumors after she has been out of public sight since Oct. 16.
Some South Korean news reports speculated that Kim purged Jang over an affair the former eminence grise may have had with Ri when she was a singer for the Unhasu Orchestra.
North Korean propaganda website Uriminzokkiri on Sunday accused South Korean media of making "unspeakable" comments about their "greatest pride," apparently referring to Ri, and warned that such behavior "worsened conflict" between the two Koreas.
Jang had been cut out of similar archive footage when it was broadcast again recently.
It remains to be seen whether Ri will appear in person at a memorial ceremony on Tuesday marking the second anniversary of Kim Jong-il's death.
She attended last year's memorial well into her pregnancy.
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