Kim Jong Un married in 2009, wife visited S. Korea in 2005: Seoul.

SEOUL, July 26 Kyodo

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has been married since 2009, a South Korean lawmaker told reporters Thursday after attending a state intelligence agency briefing, held a day after North Korea confirmed his marital status for the first time and identified his wife as Ri Sol Ju.

Jung Chung Rae, from the main opposition Democratic United Party, also said top intelligence officials briefed lawmakers that Ri visited South Korea in September 2005 as a member of a cheerleading squad for an Asian athletics meet in the western city of Incheon.

"The National Intelligence Service believes North Korea has confirmed Kim Jong Un's wife in a move to show he is a stable leader," Jung said.

Ri studied vocal music in China, he said.

As for the ages of Kim and his wife, another official, Yoon Sang Hyung from the ruling Saenuri Party, told reporters that according to the intelligence agency, Kim was born in 1984 and Ri in 1989.

After the North Korean leader was photographed with Ri repeatedly earlier this month, the official Korean Central News Agency on Wednesday confirmed their marriage by saying "Kim Jong Un and his wife Ri Sol Ju were present" at an opening ceremony of an amusement park in Pyongyang.