Song Hye-rim
성혜림
Born	(1937-01-24)24 January 1937 Changnyeong, Japanese Korea (now South Gyeongsang, South Korea)
Died	18 May 2002(2002-05-18) (aged 65) Moscow, Russia
Partner	Kim Jong Il (1968–2002; her death)
Children	2, including Kim Jong-nam
Relatives	Seong Hye-rang (sister) Yi Han-yong (nephew)

Song Hye-rim (Korean: 성혜림; 24 January 1937 – 18 May 2002)^[1] was a North Korean actress, best known for being the one-time favored mistress of Kim Jong Il.

Early life and education

Song was born in Changnyeong when Korea was under Imperial Japanese rule. She entered the 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 became a popular actress in the 1960s, appearing in movies including Onjŏngryŏng (온정령) and Baek Il-hong (백일홍).

Most accounts of Song are drawn from the memoirs of her sister, Song Hye-rang. Her former friend Kim Young-soon published her memoir I was Song Hye-rim's Friend, and revealed that she and her family were sent to a concentration camp for ten years after she found out Hye-rim's secret, namely, that she was Kim Jong Il's mistress, a fact that was hidden at the time even from Kim Il Sung. This resulted in death of her parents and children, and her husband was taken away to never be seen again. She managed to defect to South Korea in 2003.^[2][3][4][5]

Personal life

Song began dating Kim Jong Il in 1968, after divorcing her first husband; she is believed to have been his first mistress. The birth of her son is said to have been kept secret from Kim Il Sung until 1975.^[6]

Defection and death

External image
Song Hye-rim's grave at Troyekurovskoye Cemetery in Moscow.

Starting in the early 1980s, Song travelled to Moscow frequently for medical care. In 1996, Song was reported to have defected to the West, but intelligence officials in South Korea denied the story. She is reported to have died on 18 May 2002.^[1][7] Some reports state she died in Moscow.^[8][9]