(LEAD) N. Korea founder's second wife dies: source

(ATTN: CHANGES headline, lead; UPDATES throughout)

SEOUL, Dec. 12 (Yonhap) -- The second wife of North Korea's founder Kim Il-sung has died, a source said Wednesday.

The source confirmed Kim Song-ae's death, but when and how she died were not immediately known.

The unification ministry also said there have been "related signs," when asked about a media report on Kim's death.

"We will share more information when it is confirmed in detail," Baik Tae-hyun, a ministry spokesperson, told reporters during a regular briefing.

Born in 1924, Kim married the North Korean founder and grandfather of the regime's current leader, Kim Jong-un, after his first wife, Kim Jong-suk, died in 1949. The first wife gave birth to Kim Jong-il, the father of the current leader.

Kim Song-ae is the mother of Kim Pyong-il, the North's top envoy to the Czech Republic.

scaaet@yna.co.kr
(END)