Kim Jong Un's sister married to scientist of 'ordinary' background, source says

SEOUL, March 28 (UPI) -- The man Kim Jong Un's sister married could be a scientist from a non-elite family, a source said.

Kim Yo Jong, the younger sister of the North Korean leader, did not marry the son of Workers' Party Secretary Choe Ryong Hae as rumored, Yonhap reported.

"It's my knowledge Kim Yo Jong married a university professor of the sciences," the source said.

"Kim Yo Jong's husband is not of elite, anti-Japanese partisan background, but instead from an ordinary family in Pyongyang," the source added.

Choe, by contrast, is a second-generation elite of the group that allegedly fought alongside Kim Il Sung against Imperial Japan as guerrilla combatants.

The source said it is "not true" that Kim Yo Jong married Choe's second son – a rumor that circulated in South Korea.

Kim Yo Jong, 28, holds positions of power in the North Korean government.

She is reportedly the deputy director of the Workers' Party and handles top priorities on behalf of North Korea's propaganda department.

Kim Jong Un appointed his sister because he doesn't trust many government officials.

The North Korean leader has purged dozens in government and rules by a politics of fear.

Kim Yo Jong was rumored to be pregnant in 2015 but occasionally accompanies her brother on field guidance trips.

She was most recently seen touring an upscale department store in Pyongyang with her brother and sister-in-law Ri Sol Ju.