The story of a North Korean woman who tried to fill the shoes of her deceased older sister by starting a family with her brother-in-law has gone viral in North Korea.
“After his wife succumbed to a long illness, a crew leader at a collective farm in Hwangju county surnamed Kim took his sister-in-law—his dead wife’s younger sister—as his second wife,” a source in South Hwanghae province told Daily NK recently.
The source said the story began two years ago, when Kim’s wife was unexpectedly diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver. Doctors said the disease had progressed too far to be treated and gave her barely a year to live.
Saddled with the heavy burden of nursing his ailing wife and raising their young children, along with his day-to-day responsibilities on the farm, Kim eventually approached his wife’s family, who lived nearby, about caring for his wife and children. But since his mother-in-law was also in poor health, Kim directed his appeal to his sister-in-law.
The sister-in-law, recognizing that nobody else was available to care for Kim’s family, made the difficult decision of becoming a live-in nurse for her sister and nanny for her sister’s children.
Sister’s dying wish: “Take care of my kids”
Contrary to doctors’ predictions, the sick woman held on for two years thanks to the attentive care of her younger sister. She finally passed away last November.
Even after the funeral, the sister-in-law could not bring herself to leave Kim’s family because of her love for her young nieces and nephews, who were now left without a mother. The sister-in-law also felt bound by her older sister’s last words: “If my husband gets remarried, my kids will end up being raised by their stepmother. I want you to take care of my kids, even if you get married after I’m gone.”
Bearing those words in her heart, the sister-in-law remained at Kim’s house to look after the children.
Several months later, the neighborhood elders noticed that the bereaved children had become attached to their aunt. One day, the elders met with the sister-in-law and cautiously broached the possibility of her marrying her brother-in-law.
The elders reassured the sister-in-law that Kim, as a crew leader on the farm, had proven himself to be a man of good standing. And to Kim himself, the elders pointed out that bringing his sister-in-law into the family would be better for the children than a total stranger.
At first, Kim’s mother-in-law was firmly opposed to the idea of her younger daughter marrying her son-in-law. But upon reflection, she gave her blessing to the marriage. Thus it was that Kim and his sister-in-law became man and wife.
“In North Korea, and especially in rural areas, on rare occasions women will take over familial duties after the death of an older sister. Since the government doesn’t seem to be policing this kind of behavior, the two people made their union official. As rumors of the incident spread, everybody has been talking about it,” the source said.
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