North Koreas dictator Kim Jong-Il ordered the execution of all his countrys citizens who had studied in Moscow and knew of the presence of his first love and mother of his eldest son, a highest-ranking defector says.

Kim fell in love with film star Song Hye-rim on a film set in the 1960s. The two began an affair even though Song was married to another man and had a daughter.  Song who gave birth to Kim’s eldest son Jong-nam, died in exile in 2002, and rests at a cemetery in Moscow. Now, eight years after Song’s death, her best friend Kim Yong-sun has claimed that after hearing gossip among the elite, Kim became suspicious of all associated with his first love and ordered their execution, The Sunday Times reported.

In fact, in the 1970s, Kim’s agents came for Yong-sun and took her and her family to Yodok, a notorious prison camp, she has claimed.

After nine years in Yodok, she and her three surviving children were freed. It was not until several years after her release that Yong-sun learnt from a security agent the reason for her ordeal. “The security agent said, ‘Song Hye-rim is neither Kim Jong-II’s wife, nor does she’ve a son. They are all groundless rumours. If you mention this, you won’t be forgiven’,” 73-year -old Yong-sun was quoted by the newspaper.

In 2001, Yong-sun was able to defect to South Korea, where she was given a new identity. She believes that the memory of Song Hye-rim will gradually be eclipsed in North Korea as the third son rises.