Woman at the Helm of North Korea? How Kim Jong Un's Sister Is Making Her Way onto the International Stage

The only public relative of North Korea's leader is becoming an increasingly important figure in world politics.

For a long time, Kim Jong Un was the only figure associated with the most closed-off North Korea. But although all of the country's domestic and foreign policy is shaped by the dictator and leader of the Workers' Party, the name of another heir of Kim Jong Il — his daughter Kim Yo Jong — has recently been surfacing more and more often on the political stage.

Kim Yo Jong, who is close to her brother and is effectively his right hand, has held a high status within North Korea for quite some time, but recently her sphere of activity has only been expanding. Since 2018, she has rapidly come to the fore on the international stage, and now she has even become the driving force behind the conflict with South Korea.

“Previously, in state media she was simply portrayed as Kim Jong Un's sister, as one of his aides and attendants, — says Reuters Rachel Minyoung Lee, a former US intelligence analyst on North Korea. — Now, however, North Koreans know for certain that there is something more to her.”

In March, North Korean state media published the first statement in her name, in which she criticized the government of the neighboring country, comparing them to a “frightened barking dog.” Several more comments followed, including praise for Donald Trump and recent warnings about a complete rupture of relations with South Korea.

“She has direct access to and powerful influence over Kim Jong Un, — says The Guardian Leonid Petrov, a specialist on North Korea and a lecturer at the International College of Management in Sydney. — She is not connected to his purges or the military leadership, but she knows everything about them. She is a trusted political figure who helps Kim maintain a positive image in society when he deals with foreigners or South Koreans.”

As a result, talk is growing that Kim Yo Jong will succeed Kim Jong Un as leader of the conservative and patriarchal country, given that Kim Jong Un reportedly has health problems.

What is known about her?

Kim Yo Jong — daughter of Kim Jong Il and Japanese woman Ko Yong Hui, whose official name was long concealed due to the undermining of the pure-bloodline ideas of North Korean leaders. Yo Jong is 30 to 32 years old (US sources claim she was born on September 26, 1989, while South Korea says she was born exactly two years earlier). Most of her childhood was spent with her mother at their residence in Pyongyang.

Yo Jong received her education both at home (she studied at the Kim Il Sung Military University and also studied computer science at Kim Il Sung University) and in Europe. From 1996 to 2000, she attended the state school Liebefeld-Steinhölzli in Bern, Switzerland, together with her brother under assumed names.

It was there, under tight guard, that she reportedly became close to the future leader of the DPRK and became his closest ally. This is because, as South Korean expert Yunshik Bon put it, they “developed a strong sense of shared destiny while living in exile.”

Kim Yo Jong is reportedly married to Cho Song, the second son of one of the most influential state officials, Choe Ryong Hae. Although she has been seen wearing a wedding ring, there is no confirmation of this information. Nor is there confirmation of reports that she has at least one child, born in May 2015.

How did her career develop?

Although Kim Yo Jong was first officially mentioned in state media only in 2014, her political career actually began several years earlier. In early 2012 she became an employee of the National Defence Commission, handling logistics and security. She is also said to have overseen the organization of her father's funeral in 2011.

In 2014, Kim Yo Jong was included in the Central Committee of the Workers' Party, and later she was appointed first deputy director of the Propaganda and Agitation Department.

It is believed, however, that she headed this department and was generally responsible for building Kim Jong Un's personality cult from the moment he took over as head of state — including creating his style of dress and the image of a “man of the people.”

Her work in the propaganda apparatus, incidentally, led to the inclusion of the leader's sister on a special US Treasury Department list due to human rights violations and censorship in North Korea.

Yo Jong first drew attention on the international stage in February 2018, when she led North Korea's delegation to the Olympic Games. She thus became the first member of the DPRK's ruling dynasty to visit South Korea since the Korean War.

She temporarily dropped out of sight and was reportedly removed from her post in the Politburo of the party's Central Committee after the failed summit in Hanoi, Vietnam, but she has now not only been reinstated but is also gaining international authority.

Even holding an ashtray for her brother as he heads to a meeting with Donald Trump.

TK Media