An illegitimate son of North Korean nation founder Kim Il-sung is working in the country's Foreign Ministry, a source said Wednesday.

Kim Hyon (44), who is the son of Kim's masseuse, works in the ministry division handling Japanese affairs.

The source said Kim Hyon reportedly went to school in Japan and is fluent in Japanese. The regime's senior officials know that he is the son of Kim Il-sung's mistress, and he looks like his father.

The source added current leader Kim Jong-un may have taken pity on his uncle, who was living in hiding due to persecutio n from former leader Kim Jong-il, and gave him a job.

South Korean officials heard about Kim Hyon from North Korean defector Lee Han-yong, a nephew of Kim Jong-il's who was later assassinated by a hit squad sent by his uncle.

Lee told them Kim Hyon was born in 1971, the same year that Song Hye-rim gave birth to Kim Jong-il's oldest son, Jong-nam.