Wife of late N Korean leader Kim Jong-il was treated in a hospital in Germany - @YonhapNews

Wife of ex-N.K. leader got hospital treatment in Germany: sources

BERLIN, Sept. 8 (Yonhap) -- Kim Ok, the rumored fourth wife of late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, was treated for a cervical disk problem and coxitis at a hospital in Berlin in May, sources here said Saturday.

   Kim, 48, arrived in the German capital via Beijing and stayed at a hotel while receiving treatment at the Charite hospital, according to multiple South Korean residents here, who asked not to be named.

   Kim, a former secretary to Kim Jong-il, is said to have started playing first lady in 2004 after the late leader's wife Ko Yong-hui died of breast cancer.

   Ko was the mother of the current North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, who took power after his father Kim Jong-il died last December.

   The sources said Kim Ok was seen traveling in a Mercedes-Benz car with a North Korean diplomat accompanying her as an interpreter.

   Before Kim Jong-il's death, she accompanied him on his visits to China and Russia, and attended the former leader's meetings with South Korean business representatives.

  

Kim Ok (2nd row, R) is seen standing behind North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (front) at a concert in this image from a North Korean TV broadcast on March 11, 2012. (Yonhap)

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