Quoting sources in Beijing, Yonhap said it has confirmed through various channels that a funeral service had been held for 51-year-old Koh Young Hee.

There had been reports that North Korea had recently purchased an expensive coffin from Paris, causing speculation that it was for the North Korean leader's wife, Yonhap said.

Although Koh died of heart failure, the sources said she had long suffered from a number of terminal illnesses, including cancer.

A diplomatic source in Seoul said that Koh was hospitalized in Paris in April and May to receive treatment for breast cancer or uterine cancer.

Born in Japan in 1953, Koh moved to North Korea in the early 1960s with her family and worked as a dancer.

North Korea is believed to have launched a campaign to idolize Koh as "respected mother" in the military sector in the summer of 2002, prompting speculation that one of two of her sons, Kim Jong Chul or Kim Jong Woon, was being groomed as the North Korean leader's heir apparent.

The Japan Times Weekly: Sept. 4, 2004
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