Kim Young-sook

{{Short description|Wife of Kim Jong Il (born 1947)}}

{{other people}}

{{Distinguish|Kim Jong-suk}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}}

{{family name hatnote|Kim||lang=Korean}}

{{Infobox person

| module = {{Infobox Korean name

| child = yes

| hangul = 김영숙

| hanja = 金英淑

| rr = Gim Yeongsuk

| mr = Kim Yŏngsuk

| context = north

| image =

| caption =

}}

| name = Kim Young-sook

| image =

| caption =

| native_name = {{lower|0.1em|{{nobold|{{lang|ko|김영숙}}}}}}

| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1947}}

| spouse = {{marriage|Kim Jong Il|1974|2011|end=died}}

| children = Kim Sol-song
Kim Chun-song}}

Kim Young-sook ({{lang|ko|김영숙}}; born 1947) was the second wife of Kim Jong Il.{{cite news|last=Kennedy |first=Helen |title=A REAL-LIFE DR. EVIL N. Korea's Kim a caricature of tyranny|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/real-life-dr-evil-n-korea-kim-caricature-tyranny-article-1.668783|newspaper=New York Daily News|access-date=15 December 2012|date=19 January 2003}}{{Failed verification|reson=Source identifies her as wife, but mentions the two others only as mothers of their children|date=February 2019}} She was the daughter of a high-ranking military official, and was a switchboard operator in North Hamgyong Province before moving to Pyongyang.{{cite news|last=Glionna|first=John M.|title=Many women were linked to Kim Jong Il, but few had any influence|url=https://www.latimes.com/world/la-xpm-2011-dec-24-la-fg-north-korea-women-20111225-story.html|access-date=29 March 2013|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=24 December 2011|location=Seoul}} Kim Jong Il's father, Kim Il Sung, handpicked her to marry his son. The two had been estranged for some years before his death. Kim Young-sook had two daughters from this marriage, Kim Sol-song (born 1974) and Kim Chun-song (born 1976).https://nkleadershipwatch.wordpress.com/kim-family/

Song Hye-rang, the sister of Kim Jong Il's first mistress Song Hye-rim, mentioned that she is "insignificant to Kim Jong-Il, apart from being a legitimate wife in front of Kim Il Sung. She did not even have an identity card in North Korea" as noted in her memoir Rattan house.{{cite news|url=http://www.aboluowang.com/2007/0818/51857.html|title=金正日的男女关系 导致许多无辜的牺牲 (Paragraph 6)|date=18 August 2007}}

{{Kim dynasty (North Korea) family tree}}