(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
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