Ri Sol-ju, the wife of North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un, has not been seen at public events for more than seven months, prompting speculation that she may either be pregnant or have become embroiled in a faction fight.
In an analysis, the South Korean news agency Yonhap speculates that Ms Ri’s disappearance may be linked to some kind of check on her activities by Mr Kim’s younger sister, Kim Yo-jong, who is extremely influential as she is in charge of the propaganda and agitation department.
Ms Ri makes few public appearances – she disappeared from view for a long period last year too – and when she does make a public appearance, it is only ever in carefully stage-managed photo opportunities in the secretive communist enclave.
There is always keen interest in the goings-on of the political elite in North Korea on account of a series of bloody purges in recent years and because of the country's nuclear ambitions, which have earned it international pariah status and UN sanctions.
In February, a news broadcast on the North's Korean Central TV showed Mr Kim and his wife at a banquet to honour those involved in one of Pyongyang's rocket launches, which the North said was a satellite launch but which the international community considers a test of intercontinental ballistic missile.
Wearing the Korean traditional hanbok dress, the banquet was her first public appearance in four months.
Precious little is known about her, although she is believed to be a singer. Mr Kim married the woman known as “Comrade Ri Sol-ju” in 2012. She is said to be in her 20s or 30s, probably born between 1985 and 1989.
The last time she was seen in public was on March 28th when she accompanied Mr Kim on his visit to a newly built Mirae Shop and the health complex in Pyongyang.
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Yonhap keeps close tabs on her whereabouts – she accompanied Mr Kim in public 18 times in 2012, 22 times in 2013 and 15 times in 2014. But the number of such appearances fell sharply to seven last year and three this year, according to the Yonhap reading.
In 2013, Ms Ri briefly suspended her public activities after there were allegations linking her to “lewd videos” involving members of a North Korean girl band, Yonhap said.
Whenever she disappears, speculation is always about whether it's a disciplinary issue or if she is pregnant. There are persistent rumours that she has given birth to a child – the former US basketball star Dennis Rodman, who visits the North quite regularly and is said to be friendly with Mr Kim, said she gave birth to a girl in 2012.
“Ri showed up at public events every two months last year but has not appeared in public for over seven months this year. That’s quite extraordinary,” a North Korea watcher told Yonhap. “Some sources speculate Ri’s disappearance may be linked to a check on her activities by Kim’s younger sister, Kim Yo-jong.”
