Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption A KRT news reader shows the first footage of Kim Jong-un and his new wife Ri Sol-ju since their marriage was revealed, on a visit to a pre-school

North Korean state media have confirmed for the first time that the country's leader Kim Jong-un is married.

Reports referred to him attending the opening of an amusement park with his wife, "Comrade Ri Sol-ju".

There had been much speculation about Mr Kim's private life in recent weeks when an unidentified woman was pictured attending events with him.

Kim Jong-un took over as leader of the country after the death of his father Kim Jong-il in December last year.

The eight-minute report on North Korean radio which mentioned Ms Ri was broadcast at 20:00 local time on Wednesday (11:00 GMT).

Analysts have been watching Mr Kim and his inner circle for clues as to the direction in which they will take the isolated state.

Last week authorities performed a military reshuffle widely interpreted by analysts as an attempt to stamp the authority of the new leader on North Korea's powerful army.

The United States wished Mr Kim well, but said that its concern was ''first and foremost'' for the North Korean people and hopes that ''conditions for them will improve''.

''We would always wish any kind of newlyweds well,'' State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters.

'Mystery woman'

There is a North Korean singer by the name of Ri Sol-ju but it has not been confirmed whether Mr Kim's wife is the same woman.

Analysis It seems to have been a rather elliptical announcement - a news item on North Korea's 8pm state TV bulletin showing the country's young leader at the opening of a new amusement park. The female companion pictured with him, said the newsreader, was "his wife, Ri Sol-ju". Little is known about North Korea's first lady - it's not even clear when the couple married - though some reports say she is a singer. Speculation over Kim Jong-un's private life has been feverish here in South Korea since he appeared with a stylishly-dressed female companion earlier this month at several public events. Two things about these sightings were noteworthy: her western-style clothes and haircut, which prompted many here in the South to speculate on the Kim Jong-un's attitude and influences. The other was the fact that the leader's consort appeared in public like this at all - not standard practice for either of North Korea's two previous rulers. It fits with the marked change of style under Kim Jong-un. The young leader has projected a much more relaxed, chummy, open approach since taking power, at least in public. How much that change is reflected in his plans for the country's economic and political future is still unclear.

Nor did state media mention when the couple got married.

Ms Ri is thought to be the same "mystery woman" who accompanied Mr Kim to several events in recent weeks and whose Western dress and hairstyle led some to speculate on the influence of Mr Kim's brief European education.

The woman was spotted with him at a concert featuring Disney characters and at a ceremony to mark the 18th anniversary of the death of Kim Il-sung, Mr Kim's grandfather.

South Korean media had previously speculated that the woman was another North Korean singer, Hyon Song-wol.

Appearing with his wife may be part of a more informal style that Mr Kim is trying to cultivate to contrast with the austere manner of his father.

The announcement also appears to have caught North Korean media off guard: while state TV and radio named Ms Ri as Mr Kim's wife, the initial English-language reports on the news agency KCNA made no mention of her at all.

The focus on Mr Kim's personal life has been intense in recent weeks - within minutes of the news breaking, Ms Ri's name was trending on micro-blogging site Twitter.

Ms Ri is believed to have married Mr Kim in 2009 and given birth to a child the following year, analyst Cheong Seong-chang told the South Korean Korea Times newspaper.

"The late North Korean leader Kim Jong Il arranged his youngest son's marriage in a hurry after suffering a stroke in 2008," Mr Cheong said.

Ms Ri studied science and is from an upper-class family, her father being a professor and her mother an obstetrician, he added.