Washington, Mar 5 : There may be a new heir to the North Korean regime, as leader Kim Jong Un is thought to be a father. The Washington Free Beacon has reported there are speculations in South Korea that a baby was born late last year to Kim and his wife, Ri Sol Ju.

According to the New York Daily News, no announcement of a birth, or even a pregnancy, has come from the secretive North Korean regime. North Korea state media only confirmed the pair's marriage last July, but speculation is the couple has been linked since 2009.

Michael Madden, the editor of the online newsletter North Korea Leadership Watch, said that if it was a boy, the North Koreans would have made an announcement. Madden said Korea is a traditionally male-dominated society.

According to the report, the child would be next in line to inherit the dictatorship in the communist country, which was founded by Kim's grandfather, Kim Il Sung. Leadership was later handed off to Kim's father, Kim Jong Il, who died in December 2011.

Rumors of the pregnancy began in October, and Kim Jong Un's wife still appeared to be pregnant in mid-December. She appeared slim during an appearance on January 1, the South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo reported last month.

One South Korean government source told the newspaper that North Korean authorities may have either induced Ri to go into labor at the end of last year or have her child through caesarean section in order to bear a child in 2012, the report added. (ANI)