N. Korean leader's sister promoted to member of party central committee

N. Korean leader's sister promoted to member of party central committee. May. 11, 2016 07:31. by 우경임기자 woohaha@donga.com.

At a mass rally in Pyongyang on Tuesday morning celebrating the conclusion of the seventh congress of North Korea's ruling Workers' Party, the only one who showed brisk movements was Kim Yo Jong, vice director of the party's propaganda department and the younger sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Clad in a black skirt suit, Kim Yo Jong seemed to be in charge of protocols for the event, guiding guests inside the rostrum or taking flowers offered by children.

She put her name on the list of members of the party's central committee, the official top leadership organization in the North, for the first time. Her name was mentioned as the 43rd among 128 central committee members. Although she was not promoted to a director or named a politburo member as projected, she is said to have showed off her status as the second most powerful person in North Korea as a granddaughter of Kim Il Sung, the North's founder.

"The fact that Kim Yo Jong's name was mentioned among the first half (of the committee members) means that she has emerged as a core person with political influence," said Jeong Seong-jang, an analyst at South Korea's state-funded Sejong Institute.

She started official activities through the election of delegates to the Supreme People's Assembly in March 2014. It was not until January 2015 that the North disclosed her official title as the party's deputy department director. Given her age and career, the appointment as a central committee member can be seen as a super high-speed promotion. Kim Jong Un was not elected as a central committee member until September 2010, the following year after he was named successor to Kim Jong Il, and waited for a year and a half to become a member of the politburo's standing committee.

Kim Yo Jong is reportedly acting as the chief of staff of Kim Jong Un, taking care of her brother's schedules. Experts say that regardless of her official rank or title, she is the closest person to the North Korean leader. "It is just that the latest party congress did not put her under a spotlight because it was an event for deifying Kim Jong Un," said Nam Sung-wook, a North Korea expert at Korea University in Seoul. "It is significant that she received the 43rd spot in the party's ranking."