According to official media on Tuesday, North Korea’s governing party has promoted Kim Jong Un’s influential younger sister to a high position, demonstrating her extensive influence in the closed country.
At the ruling Workers’ Party’s once-every-five-year summit in Pyongyang, thousands of party insiders have gathered to coordinate state efforts on everything from war preparedness to diplomacy.
According to the Korean Central News Agency, Kim Yo Jong, who has long been regarded as one of her brother’s closest lieutenants, was elevated to department director within the party’s highest central committee.
She had held a top position in the party’s propaganda unit before, however it was unclear exactly department she would oversee.
With a prominent involvement in diplomacy, nuclear talks, and other state affairs, Kim Yo Jong has become one of North Korea’s most powerful leaders in recent years.
North Korean analyst Ahn Chan-il stated, “Kim Yo Jong is one of the very few people Kim Jong Un can trust and rely on.”
She also attended Kim’s talks with Trump in Singapore and Hanoi as a working-level official. She’s seasoned and experienced,” he told AFP.
When Kim Yo Jong was sent to Seoul in 2018 as North Korea’s representative for the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, she made her international debut.
She was among the first members of the ruling Kim dynasty to visit the South since the Korean War as a result of that tour.
She has now become well-known for her vehement criticisms of Seoul and Washington.
She once called former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s administration a “faithful dog” of the US.
Since Lee Jae Myung, the current leader of South Korea, assumed office last year and has worked to improve relations with the North, her tone has considerably softened.
According to Lim Eul-chul of Kyungnam University’s Institute for Far Eastern Studies, Kim Yo Jong’s most recent development “amounts to promotion to ministerial rank.”
Rapid climb Despite Kim Yo Jong’s significant role in North Korea’s interactions with the outside world, surprisingly little is known about her.
According to the South Korean government, she was born in 1988 and is one of three children born to Kim Jong Il, Kim’s father and predecessor, and his third known lover, former dancer Ko Yong Hui.
Alongside her brother, she received her education in Switzerland, and after their father passed away in 2011, she quickly ascended the ranks after he took over.
Kim Yo Jong’s marital status and children have never been formally revealed by Pyongyang.
Last year, official media aired rare footage of her and two young children at an art show.
The Workers’ Party conference is frequently viewed as a platform for Kim to demonstrate his hold on power and provides a unique window into the political inner workings of the closed-off North Korean state.
The gathering has only been called to order nine times during the Kim family, which has ruled North Korea for decades.
The possibility that the congress will also elevate Kim Jong Un’s teenage daughter, Kim Ju Ae, is of great intrigue.
The national intelligence agency of South Korea has determined that Kim Ju Ae is the most likely candidate to carry on the family dynasty.
During a trip to Asia last year, US President Donald Trump intensified his courtship of Kim Jong Un, declaring that he was “100 percent” amenable to a summit.
However, the North Korean leader has mostly rejected attempts to resume high-level diplomatic discussions thus far.
