First Lady of North Korea

During the administration of President Kim Il Sung, Kim Song-ae assumed the duties of first lady in 1963, 11 years after the marriage.^[1] The position was left vacant under the leadership of General Secretary Kim Jong Il, who married twice and had three domestic partnerships at different times.

The position was re-established under Kim Jong Un in April 2018 when Ri Sol-ju, whom he married in 2009, was elevated to "Respected First Lady". The term had not been used since 1974, when it described Kim Song-ae. Ri was previously called "comrade" by state media; the promotion occurred ahead of the April 2018 inter-Korean summit where Ri and the first lady of South Korea, Kim Jung-sook, were in attendance.^[2][3]

The following is a list of the first ladies of North Korea.

First Lady No.	Portrait	First Lady (Maiden name)	Tenure	Age at tenure start	Supreme Leader (Husband, unless noted)
1		Kim Song-ae 1924–2014 (aged 89) [4][5][6]	17 December 1963 – 15 August 1974	38 years, 353 days	Kim Il Sung m. 1941 and 1952
-		Vacant	15 August 1974 – 15 April 2018	—	Kim Jong Il m. 1966 and 1974
2		Ri Sol-ju Born (1989-10-26) 26 October 1989 (age 34) [7][8][9]	15 April 2018 – present	28 years, 158 days	Kim Jong Un m. 2009

• First Lady
• List of leaders of North Korea
  • Supreme Leader of North Korea
• First Lady of South Korea

• Tertitskiy, Fyodor (2 March 2018). "Cults of the forgotten wives: Kim Song Ae and Ko Yong Hui". NK News.
• "The Women in Kim's Life". Time. 23 June 2003. Archived from the original on 10 July 2010.