Who Is Kim Yo Jong? North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un’s Sister Elevated At Party Congress

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s sister Kim Yo Jong has been promoted in the ruling party structure at the party congress, the latest sign of the Kim family consolidating its grip on power.

Kim Jong Un pledged to solidify and develop the quality of the country’s economy over the next five years, state media KCNA said on Tuesday, during a speech at a party congress where his high-profile sister was promoted.

Previously a vice department director of the Central Committee of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea Kim Yo Jong, was named a director of one of the departments, the official Korean Central News Agency reported Tuesday. It was not immediately clear which sector she was appointed to lead.

North Korea on Monday held the fifth day of the Ninth Congress of the ruling Workers’ Party, which sets out major policy goals for the nuclear-armed Asian nation for the next five years.

The ruling party’s congress is a tool for North Korea to issue propaganda messages to the world and to decide on the next political, economic, and military priorities.

Who is Kim Yo Jong?

Kim Yo Jong, is the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. She is a politician as well as a diplomat. She is the deputy department director of the Publicity and Information Department of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK). Since September 2021, she has been a member of State Affairs Commission of North Korea.

She served as an alternate member of the Politburo of the Workers’ Party of Korea from 2017 to 2019, and again from 2020 to 2021. Kim is the youngest child of North Korea’s second supreme leader Kim Jong II and the younger sister of Kim Jong Un, the current supreme leader.

Kim Yo Jong is the youngest child of former North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong II and his second mistress, Ko Yong Hui. Born in Pyongyang, she spent most of her early childhood at her mother’s residence, growing up alongside her siblings.

Between 1996 and December 2000, Kim studied with her elder brothers at the Liebefeld-Steinhölzli public school in Bern, Switzerland, under the assumed name “Pak Mi-hyang”. During this time, she is believed to have developed a close relationship with her brother Kim Jong Un. 

She was given a promotion. According to KCNA, she was named a party department director. Previously, she was vice-director.

She was also reinstated as an “alternate” member of the Politburo of the ruling party’s Central Committee, following her demotion in 2021.

Analysts said Kim Yo Jong, who has regularly lashed out at South Korea in fiery statements conveyed by state media, may further drive outward-facing policy in her new position.

So far, there has been no new indication that Kim‘s teenage daughter, known as Ju Ae, has been involved in the Congress.

There has been growing speculation among analysts and by South Korea’s spy agency that she is being groomed to succeed her father as leader in what would be a fourth generation of Kim family leaders since North Korea was founded by Kim Il Sung in 1948.

It is unclear how long the current Congress proceedings will last. The previous two iterations ran for four and eight days, respectively. Satellite images earlier this month showed an apparent practice for a military parade to accompany the Congress, media reported.

Analysts said North Korea could unveil nuclear and conventional weapons during the parade to show off the military capabilities it has built during the past five-year period.

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