Seoul (AsiaNews) - Kim Jong-il's embalmed body was the pretext to announce to North Korea that his third son Kim Jong-un will soon be a father. During a ceremony marking the first anniversary of the death of the 'dear leader,' state TV presented the 'royal couple' paying tribute to the late leader's body on display for the first time at the family mausoleum.
A video clip of the ceremony also shows a heavily pregnant Comrade Ri Sol-ju, who is under 30, with her husband, the 'young General' Jong-un. Although she wears a black choson-ot, the traditional wide Korean dress, her condition is visible.
Speaking to AsiaNews, a source said that the couple already has a child born before the late leader gave his blessing. Nothing is known about the child's whereabouts, but he is thought to be abroad.
According to the source, who is involved in charity work in the North, "if she is really pregnant that would be a major propaganda coup. In order to console the people, the young leader gives the people an heir to continue the line, someone like them born in suffering."
However, amid weeping, cries and hysterical scenes, the memorial service for the late leader also came with a bad surprise. The satellite North Korea launched last week despite protests from the West and China does not appear to be working. According to a US-based astrophysicist who monitors satellites the Unha-3 is not sending any signals.
When it launched its satellite, Pyongyang insisted that it had "a right" to develop its missile programmes. Jonathan McDowell of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics said that the satellite was clearly in orbit but that nothingcould be heard. It remained possible that it was transmitting at a level too faint for detection.