A photo of Lee Maeng-in (李孟仁), the maternal grandmother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, was recently revealed on a broadcast. It was provided by Komi Yoji, a former Tokyo Shimbun editorial writer who published the book *‘Ko Yong-hui: The Zainichi Korean Who Became Kim Jong-un’s Mother’* in June.

North Koreans acknowledge that Kim has been more diplomatically active than his father or grandfather but attribute that to geopolitical changes Rodong Sinmun reported on Sept. 4, 2025, that "Comrade Kim Jong Un met and held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin,