Song Hye-rim

Song Hye-rim (born 1937, Changnyeong County, South Gyeongsang, South Korea, died 2002, Moscow, Russia, speculative) was a North Korean actress and one-time favored mistress of Kim Jong Il. She was born in present-day South Korea, in Changnyeong County, South Gyeongsang.

Song entered Pyongyang Movie College in 1955, but left the following year to give birth to a daughter. She later re-enrolled and graduated, having her film debut in 1960. She appeared in movies including Onjŏngryŏng (온정령) and Baek Il-hong (백일홍).

Song began dating Kim Jong Il in 1968, after divorcing her first husband. In 1971, she gave birth to Kim Jong-nam, who at one time was believed to be favored to succeed Kim Jong Il. In 1996 Song was reported to have defected to the west, but intelligence officials in South Korea denied the story. Later Song was reported to be in Moscow, where she was having treatment for clinical depression. Some reports say she died in Moscow in May 2002.

See also

• List of Korea-related topics
• History of North Korea
• List of Koreans