DPRK leader Kim Jong Un may have third child

DPRK leader Kim Jong Un has fathered his third child, reports said Tuesday, after his wife dropped out of the public eye for several months.

First lady Ri Sol Ju delivered the couple's third child in February, the Yonhap news agency reported on Tuesday, citing Republic of Korea (ROK) lawmakers who were briefed by the National Intelligence Service.

Ri had disappeared for an extended period last year, raising speculation that she could be pregnant.

News of the new arrival emerged as the DPRK fired a ballistic missile over northern Japan.

DPRK leader Kim Jong Un (C), his wife Ri Sol Ju (L) and former US basketball star Dennis Rodman (R) watch a basketball game between former NBA players and DPRK players in Pyongyang, January 8, 2014. /AFP Photo

According to previous intelligence reports from Seoul, Ri married Kim in 2009 and gave birth to their first child the following year, with their second born in 2013.

Former NBA star Dennis Rodman, following his trip to the DPRK in 2013, has been the only source of information about the couple's second child – a baby girl named Ju Ae. Saying that he had held Kim's daughter in his arms, Rodman described the DPRK leader as "a good dad" who has "a good family."

ROK intelligence reports have described Ri as coming from an ordinary family, with her father an academic and her mother a doctor. She visited the ROK in 2005 as a cheerleader for her country's squad in the Asian Athletics Championships.

(CGTN)