Kim Jong-un's aunt is alive in a vegetative state after an operation on a brain tumour, say reports in South Korea

Kim Kyong-hui, 67, is aunt of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, 30

Her husband Jang Song-Thaek was executed by Kim Jong-un last month



Earlier reports claimed she was dead and may have killed herself



Claims: Kim Kyong-hui, 67, is said to have died, but now there are reports she is in a vegetative state

Kim Jong-un's aunt is alive, but in a vegetative state after an operation on a brain tumour, according a report in South Korea

Kim Kyong-hui, 67, whose husband Jang Song-Thaek was executed under Jong-un's orders less than a month ago, is reported to have had surgery last year in Paris.

The revelations conflict with reports earlier last week which claimed that she had died and may her killed herself.



There has been speculation on her health and whereabouts since the death on 8 December of her husband, also 67, described as 'scum' by his 30-year-old nephew.

Once a key figure in the totalitarian regime, Mrs Kim, the sister of Kim Jong-un's father, former leader Kim Jong-il, has not been seen in public since 10 September, when she was spotted at a concert with her nephew and his wife.

A report in the JoongAng Daily quoted an intelligence official in the United States that Ms Kim has been in a vegetative state since she underwent brain surgery in France, reported The Daily Telegraph.



An official in the South Korean government told Yonhap News that Mrs Kim is in 'a critical condition' as a result of complications stemming from a heart problem.

One story suggested Mrs Kim had been receiving treatment for heart disease, reportedly had a heart attack soon after her husband was killed.

Mrs Kim, front, seen in 2011 with her nephew Kim Jong-un, front right, and husband Jang Song-Thaek, two behind Jong-un

Despite her husband having been executed, Mrs Kim's life was believed to be safe, particularly when she was chosen to join other dignitaries planning the funeral of a senior Workers Party official who died last month.



She is said to have suffered from alcoholism and depression since the death of her only child, daughter Jang Kum-song, who killed herself in Paris in 2006.

Initial speculation was that Jang had been killed by firing squad, a fate that media outlets said was the usual one reserved for 'traitors'.



Condemned: Jang Song Thaek (second right) is escorted in court before being executed. North Korea has not released details about how he was killed

Dictator's aunt: Kim Kyong-hui, centre front, is the younger sister of Kim Jong-un's father, Kim Jong-il

However, an alternative narrative of the 67-year old's death emerged on what appears to have been a satirical post on the Chinese Tencent Weibo site that has been repeated by many media outlets worldwide.



The December 11 post on Tencent Weibo, which was viewed 290,000 times, said Jang and five aides were killed by dogs.



The Hong Kong-based Wen Wei Po newspaper then released an article and a screenshot of the Weibo post which it used to justify its report that Jang had been torn apart.



Wen Wei Po, although independent, is viewed as being pro-Beijing. Its report was in turn picked up 12 days later by the Singapore-based Straits Times and then by a wide range of US and European media from print to television.



Kim Jong Un, believed to be around 30 years old, has been in power for two years and presided over a nuclear test and two rocket test launches that are banned under United Nations sanctions.



In 2013, Pyongyang threatened to strike South Korea, the United States and Japan in fiery rhetoric that triggered an arms buildup in East Asia.



One of the pitfalls of reporting on North Korea is that few independent media have offices there and visiting media are tightly controlled in a country which ranks among the lowest in global surveys of press freedom.



Because of the lack of first hand information, many lurid stories about the country gain credence.



Family power: Kim Kyong-hui in 1963 with her father, then North Korean leader Kim il-Sung, and brother, Kim Jong-il, left



