North Korea has a new communist heir after the wife of dynastic dictator Kim Jong Un secretly gave birth late last year, it was claimed today. The newborn, whose gender is not known, could become the fourth-generation to lead the communist dictatorship, but Pyongyang watchers believe the baby is most likely a girl. 'If it was a boy, [the North Koreans] would have made an announcement,' Michael Madden, editor of the online newsletter North Korea Leadership Watch, told the Washington Free Beacon. This picture shows Kim Jong-Un (centre) with his wife (left) and Mr Rodman (right) on a previous visit . Stepping into the limelight: Kim Jung Un's wife Ri Sol-Ju is being seen more often in public, fuelling claims that she has given birth . The birth is seen as significant . because the communist regime in Pyongyang has evolved from a . Soviet-installed Marxist-Leninist regime in the 1950s to an Asian family . dynasty. The newsletter said: 'South Korea’s government recently confirmed that Ri Sol-ju, Kim’s wife who was shown in recent months wearing designer fashions and expensive jewelry, had a child in late 2012.' Kim . Jong Un, who last week spent time with former NBA star Dennis Rodman, . has dramatically increased the provocation his father was known for, . with multiple tests of nuclear weapons and missiles. Yet . Rodman, who went to North Korea with the Harlem Globetrotters and an . HBO camera crew, described the dictator as 'awesome' and lavished . praised on him. Speculation has been growing that the wife . of North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-Un has given birth since she was pictured looking significantly slimmer at the end of 2012. Photographs seen on North Korean TV . show Ri Sol-Ju wearing a neatly-fitting two-piece skirt suit in contrast . to the loose-fitting clothing she was seen wearing in mid December and . which suggested she was heavily pregnant. Before-and-after photos were run on . South Korean TV and in Seoul newspapers today resulting in widespread . agreement that Kim Jong-Un’s wife has had a child. ‘The bulging stomach has gone down – has Ri Sol-Ju given birth?’ asked one newspaper, the Dong-A Ilbo. The . caption in another South Korean paper, the Chosun Ilbo, read: ‘Ri . Sol-Ju with her tummy reduced in 11 days. Has she come out right after . childbirth?’ United: This screen grab taken from North Korean TV today shows North Korea's young leader Kim Jong-Un, right, and his wife Ri Sol-Ju, left. The images suggest that the leader's wife has recently given birth . Birth: The seemingly pregnant belly sported by Ri Sol-Ju in mid-December appeared to be gone in these recent pictures . Pregnant? Ri Sol-ju, centre, Kim Jong Un's wife, is pictured in December looking as though she may be expecting a child . Child: This picture in December of Ri Sol-Ju, second left, which was taken from the side, shows her apparently bloated frame . The photographs have undergone the most intense scrutiny and the verdict is that Ri Sol-Ju is a mother. A South Korean government official, . quoted by the national Yonhap news agency concluded that Ri ‘appeared to . have already given birth based on analysis of the TV images.’ Defectors from North Korea are also said to have provided new details of Ri, who is considered a future power player in the Pyongyang leadership hierarchy and a growing influence on Kim Jong-un. 'Ri Sol-ju is a fresh face who is clearly stepping out but it’s much too early to say if her public activity will have any political relevance in North Korea,' said a U.S. official who did not answer questions about the birth. Whether North Korea will officially announce what would be the equivalent of a royal birth is open to speculation. No official announcement was made that Kim Jong Un even had a wife until state media eventually revealed it. Kim Jong-Un was . elevated to leader of the secretive Stalinist state following the death . of his father, Kim Jong-Il, who had succeeded his own father, ‘Great . Leader’ Kim Il-Sung. According . to South Korean media, citing intelligence reports, the couple were . married in 2009 and already have one child. But that has never been . confirmed. Birth: Speculation is growing that the wife of North Korea's leader Kim Jong-Un, left, has given birth in recent weeks, continuing the family dynasty into a fourth generation. Ri Sol-Ju is pictured right with her husband earlier this year . Couple: North Korean leader Kim Jong-un walks arm in arm with his wife Ri Sol-ju while attending a ceremony earlier this year . Ri is said to . have come from an ‘ordinary family’ – although her father being an . academic and her mother a doctor raises them above the average level. The young wife of North Korea’s leader made her first public appearance in two months in October -  bringing to an end . what might have been a period of ‘home detention’ for being too . carefree. Ri Sol-ju had been . photographed earlier this year smiling and strolling about in a casual . manner when accompanying her husband. But . then she disappeared from view, provoking speculation that she might be . pregnant but more likely because she was not presenting the dour image . promoted by her husband’s late father, Kim Jong-il. Analysts say that despite the young . Kim’s appointment as supreme commander of the nation, he is still under . the control of the military hierarchy who make sure he presents a rigid, . authoritative image to the rest of the world. That means that his wife must remain aloof and untouchable in the eyes of the masses, say North Korean experts.
Experts say leader's wife Ri Sol-Ju gave birth to a baby girl late last year .
But Pyongyang 'did not admit to the child because it is a girl'
South Korea said to have confirmed the birth last week .
North Korea has a new communist heir after the wife of dynastic dictator Kim Jong Un secretly gave birth late last year, it was claimed today. The newborn, whose gender is not known, could become the fourth-generation to lead the communist dictatorship, but Pyongyang watchers believe the baby is most likely a girl. 'If it was a boy, [the North Koreans] would have made an announcement,' Michael Madden, editor of the online newsletter North Korea Leadership Watch, told the Washington Free Beacon. This picture shows Kim Jong-Un (centre) with his wife (left) and Mr Rodman (right) on a previous visit . Stepping into the limelight: Kim Jung Un's wife Ri Sol-Ju is being seen more often in public, fuelling claims that she has given birth . The birth is seen as significant . because the communist regime in Pyongyang has evolved from a . Soviet-installed Marxist-Leninist regime in the 1950s to an Asian family . dynasty. The newsletter said: 'South Korea’s government recently confirmed that Ri Sol-ju, Kim’s wife who was shown in recent months wearing designer fashions and expensive jewelry, had a child in late 2012.' Kim . Jong Un, who last week spent time with former NBA star Dennis Rodman, . has dramatically increased the provocation his father was known for, . with multiple tests of nuclear weapons and missiles. Yet . Rodman, who went to North Korea with the Harlem Globetrotters and an . HBO camera crew, described the dictator as 'awesome' and lavished . praised on him. Speculation has been growing that the wife . of North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-Un has given birth since she was pictured looking significantly slimmer at the end of 2012. Photographs seen on North Korean TV . show Ri Sol-Ju wearing a neatly-fitting two-piece skirt suit in contrast . to the loose-fitting clothing she was seen wearing in mid December and . which suggested she was heavily pregnant. Before-and-after photos were run on . South Korean TV and in Seoul newspapers today resulting in widespread . agreement that Kim Jong-Un’s wife has had a child. ‘The bulging stomach has gone down – has Ri Sol-Ju given birth?’ asked one newspaper, the Dong-A Ilbo. The . caption in another South Korean paper, the Chosun Ilbo, read: ‘Ri . Sol-Ju with her tummy reduced in 11 days. Has she come out right after . childbirth?’ United: This screen grab taken from North Korean TV today shows North Korea's young leader Kim Jong-Un, right, and his wife Ri Sol-Ju, left. The images suggest that the leader's wife has recently given birth . Birth: The seemingly pregnant belly sported by Ri Sol-Ju in mid-December appeared to be gone in these recent pictures . Pregnant? Ri Sol-ju, centre, Kim Jong Un's wife, is pictured in December looking as though she may be expecting a child . Child: This picture in December of Ri Sol-Ju, second left, which was taken from the side, shows her apparently bloated frame . The photographs have undergone the most intense scrutiny and the verdict is that Ri Sol-Ju is a mother. A South Korean government official, . quoted by the national Yonhap news agency concluded that Ri ‘appeared to . have already given birth based on analysis of the TV images.’ Defectors from North Korea are also said to have provided new details of Ri, who is considered a future power player in the Pyongyang leadership hierarchy and a growing influence on Kim Jong-un. 'Ri Sol-ju is a fresh face who is clearly stepping out but it’s much too early to say if her public activity will have any political relevance in North Korea,' said a U.S. official who did not answer questions about the birth. Whether North Korea will officially announce what would be the equivalent of a royal birth is open to speculation. No official announcement was made that Kim Jong Un even had a wife until state media eventually revealed it. Kim Jong-Un was . elevated to leader of the secretive Stalinist state following the death . of his father, Kim Jong-Il, who had succeeded his own father, ‘Great . Leader’ Kim Il-Sung. According . to South Korean media, citing intelligence reports, the couple were . married in 2009 and already have one child. But that has never been . confirmed. Birth: Speculation is growing that the wife of North Korea's leader Kim Jong-Un, left, has given birth in recent weeks, continuing the family dynasty into a fourth generation. Ri Sol-Ju is pictured right with her husband earlier this year . Couple: North Korean leader Kim Jong-un walks arm in arm with his wife Ri Sol-ju while attending a ceremony earlier this year . Ri is said to . have come from an ‘ordinary family’ – although her father being an . academic and her mother a doctor raises them above the average level. The young wife of North Korea’s leader made her first public appearance in two months in October -  bringing to an end . what might have been a period of ‘home detention’ for being too . carefree. Ri Sol-ju had been . photographed earlier this year smiling and strolling about in a casual . manner when accompanying her husband. But . then she disappeared from view, provoking speculation that she might be . pregnant but more likely because she was not presenting the dour image . promoted by her husband’s late father, Kim Jong-il. Analysts say that despite the young . Kim’s appointment as supreme commander of the nation, he is still under . the control of the military hierarchy who make sure he presents a rigid, . authoritative image to the rest of the world. That means that his wife must remain aloof and untouchable in the eyes of the masses, say North Korean experts.
gave birth late last year, it was claimed today. believe the baby is most likely a girl. 'If it suggest that the leader's wife has recently given Sol-Ju is a mother. A South Korean government official who did not answer questions about the year . Ri is said to . have come from an