North Korea's secretive 'first family'

Kim Jong-il was one of the most secretive leaders in the world. Tales from dissidents and past aides created an image of an irrational, power-hungry man who allowed his people to starve while he enjoyed dancing girls and cognac.

But a different picture was painted by Sung Hae-rim, the sister of one of his former partners in her memoir, The Wisteria House.

She describes a devoted father and a sensitive, charismatic individual, although she admits even those closest to him were fearful of him.

North Korean media depicted him as a national hero, whose birth to the country's founder, Kim Il-sung, was marked by a double rainbow and a bright star.

The youngest sister of the late Kim Jong-il and the wife of the man formerly regarded as the second most powerful figure in North Korea, Chang Song-thaek.

She has held a wide range of important Workers' Party positions including being a member of the all-powerful Central Committee.

Her promotion to four-star general made Kim Kyung-hee the first North Korean woman ever to achieve such status.

Analysts say Kim Kyung-hee and her husband were seen as mentors for the new leader Kim Jong-un when he came to power in 2011. But news of her husband's execution in December 2013 suggests the most significant upheaval in North Korea's leadership since Mr Kim succeeded his father.

Chang Song-thaek was married to Kim Kyung-hee, the younger sister of the late Kim Jong-il. When the inexperienced Kim Jong-un became the new leader in 2011, the couple were widely thought to be acting as his mentors.

In December 2013, the powerful uncle - who sat on the country's top military body - was denounced by the state-run news agency for corruption. Images were shown of him being removed from a Politburo meeting by uniformed guards. He was then executed.

Mr Chang's execution is the biggest upheaval in North Korea's leadership since Mr Kim succeeded his father.

Kim Jong-nam was Kim Jong-il's eldest son.

Sung Hae-rang, the sister of Kim Jong-nam's deceased mother Sung Hae-rim, has written in her memoir that Kim Jong-il was extremely fond of Kim Jong-nam and was pained to be away from him. Like his half-brothers, Kim Jong-nam studied at an international school in Switzerland.

But his chances of succession appeared to be ruined when, in 2001, Japanese officials caught him trying to sneak into Japan using a false passport. He told officials that he was planning to visit Tokyo Disneyland.

Some analysts argued that he may have been forgiven by his father, as there is precedent for the regime reinstating disgraced figures after a period of atonement. Confucian tradition also favours the oldest son.

But in a rare interview in 2009, Kim Jong-nam said he had 'no interest' in succeeding his father.

In February 2017, Kim Jong-nam died in mysterious circumstances in Malaysia.

Kim Sul-song is Kim Jong-il's daughter born to his first wife, Kim Young-sook.

Reports say she has worked in the country's propaganda department, with responsibility for literary affairs.

One South Korean report said she had also served as her father's secretary.

Kim Jong-chul studied at an international school in Switzerland. He works in the WKP propaganda department.

His mother, Ko Yong-hui, is said to have been the North Korean leader's favourite consort.

However, Kenji Fujimoto, the pseudonym of a Japanese sushi chef who spent 13 years cooking for Kim Jong-il, has written that the leader considered his second son 'no good because he is like a little girl'.

Kim Jong-un, the second son of Kim Jong-il and his late wife Ko Yong-hui, was anointed 'the great successor' by Pyongyang.

Like his older brothers, he is thought to have been educated abroad.

A Japanese sushi chef who worked for Kim Jong-il for 13 years up to 2001 said that he 'resembled his father in every way, including his physical frame'.

Speculation that he was being groomed to succeed his father had been rife for years.

Since taking power, he has presided over a long-range missile test, North Korea's third nuclear test, and most recently the execution of his uncle, Chang Song-thaek.

He married Ri Sol-Ju in 2009 or 2010 and the couple are reported to have had a daughter, Ju-ae, in 2012.

Ri Sol-ju was introduced as Kim Jong-un's wife in state media reports about the opening of an amusement park in July 2012.

Reports simply said he attended the event with his wife, 'Comrade Ri Sol-ju'.

Little more is known about Ri Sol-Ju, although there has been much speculation about her background since pictures first emerged of Kim Jong-un with an unidentified woman. There is a North Korean singer of the same name, but she is not now thought to be the same person.

Reports say the couple got married in 2009 or 2010 and Ri Sol-Ju is since reported to have given birth to a daughter, Ju-ae, in 2012.

The grandson of Kim Jong-il and nephew of leader Kim Jong-un has said he wants to 'make things better' for the people of his country.

Kim Han-sol spoke of his dreams of reunification of the two Koreas in an television interview in Bosnia, where he is studying. Kim Han-sol said he had never met his grandfather or uncle.

He described an isolated childhood spent mostly in Macau and China, after his birth in Pyongyang in 1995. In the future, he said he pictured himself going to university and then ''volunteering somewhere''.