2015/01/02 16:47 
 
 SEOUL, Jan. 2 (Yonhap) -- The younger sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was married last year to a son of Choe Ryong-hae, one of the closest aides to Kim, sources said Friday. 
 
 "As far as I know, Kim Yo-jong, deputy director of the Workers' Party, got married to a son of the party's secretary Choe Ryong-hae," said a reliable source based in China. 
 
 Choe is known to be the most powerful official in the communist nation behind leader Kim. 
 
 Choe has two sons and a daughter, according to another source. The second son, Choe Song, is her husband, added the source. He is reportedly in his early 30s, but his job title has not been confirmed yet. 
 
 Earlier Friday, the North's media released a photo of Kim Yo-jong, 28, who accompanied her brother in a visit to a Pyongyang orphanage on New Year's Day. 
 
 It showed her wearing what appears to be a wedding ring on the ring finger of her left hand. 
 
 The right photo shows Kim Yo-jung, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, wearing what seems to be a wedding ring. 
 
 (END) ||||| When Kim Jong-un delivered his New Year message offering to participate in high-level talks with South Korea, the setting, his outfit and posture were all strikingly similar to those he adopted exactly two years earlier. 
 
 Two things, however, appeared radically different - the North Korean leader’s eyebrows. 
 
 In what appeared to be a case of severe over-plucking, Kim’s brows appeared to be significantly shorter than on earlier occasions, sitting above his eyes like little dashes. 
 
 Back in 2013 Kim sported a far more distinctive twin-set during his New Year speech – although even then they looked somewhat clipped. It is only by trawling the photo archives back to around 2011 that one can see the arches of a man who clearly shunned the tweezers. 
 
 Kim’s 2013 new year speech came just weeks before North Korea issued an angry denial that the leader had undergone plastic surgery, after persistent speculation that he was attempting to make himself appear more like his grandfather Kim Il-sung. 
 
 “The false report... released by enemies is a hideous criminal act which the party, state, army and people can never tolerate,�? the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said in a commentary at the time – the same agency responsible for releasing the latest pictures of Kim and his diminishing furry friends. 
 
 While his grandfather may not be the inspiration behind his new short-brow look, a picture of Kim, his father Kim Jong-Il and Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang taken during a meeting in Pyongyang in 2011 may provide a clue as to the inspiration behind the leader’s new look. 
 
 In the picture Kim senior is sporting a similar pair of short brows sitting atop his heavy, trademark spectacles.
– Kim Jong Un's annual New Year message may have steered clear of digs at the US and Sony, but it did raise one pressing question: What's up with Kim's eyebrows? The South China Morning Post reports they now look like "little dashes," which it suggests may be the result of "severe over-plucking." (See their transformation in the photo gallery.) Kim has previously been accused of altering his appearance to look like grandfather Kim Il Sung; in this case, the Post suggests he could be emulating another relative: It surfaces a 2011 photo showing Kim Jong Il with similarly short brows. In other news from North Korea, sources say Kim's youngest sister married the son of a top aide last year, Yonhap News reports.