Kim Yo-jong

Kim Yo-jong (Korean: 김여정;[1] born 26 September 1987) is a North Korean politician serving as the Deputy Director of the United Front Department of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK). She also served as an alternate member of the Politburo of the Workers' Party of Korea from 2017 to 2019, and from 2020 to 2021.

In this Korean name, the family name is Kim.
Kim Yo-jong
김여정
Deputy Director of the United Front Department
Assumed office
10 January 2021
General SecretaryKim Jong-un
DirectorKim Yong-chol
First Deputy Director of the United Front Department
In office
31 December 2019 – 10 January 2021
General SecretaryKim Jong-un
DirectorKim Yong-chol
First Deputy Director of the Propaganda and Agitation Department
In office
29 November 2014 – 31 December 2019
General SecretaryKim Jong-un
DirectorKim Ki-nam
Pak Kwang-ho
Ri Il-hwan
Preceded byRi Jae-il
Personal details
Born (1987-09-26) 26 September 1987
Pyongyang, North Korea
NationalityNorth Korean
Political partyWorkers' Party of Korea
Spouse(s)
Choe Song
​
(m. 2014)​
Children2 (alleged)
ParentsKim Jong-il
Ko Yong-hui
RelativesKim dynasty
Alma materKim Il-sung Military University
Signature
Korean name
Chosŏn'gŭl
김여정
Hancha
Revised RomanizationGim Yeojeong
McCune–ReischauerKim Yŏjŏng

Kim is the youngest child of North Korea's second Supreme Leader, Kim Jong-il. She is the younger sister of Kim Jong-un, the current supreme leader and WPK general secretary, and is considered by some commentators to be a possible successor.[2][3]

Early life

Kim Yo-jong is the youngest child of former North Korean leader Kim Jong-il and his consort, Ko Yong-hui.[4] The U.S. Treasury lists her birthdate as 26 September 1989,[5] while South Korean sources place her birth on 26 September 1987.[4][6] She spent most of her early childhood at her mother's residence in Pyongyang, growing up alongside her siblings.[4] Between 1996 and December 2000, Kim studied with her older brothers at the Liebefeld-Steinhölzli public school in Bern, Switzerland under the assumed name "Pak Mi-hyang".[7] It was during this time that she is believed to have developed a close relationship with her brother Kim Jong-un, the future supreme leader of North Korea.[8][9] After returning to Pyongyang, she completed a degree in computer science at Kim Il-sung University.[10]

Career

In 2007, Kim was appointed as a junior cadre in the ruling Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), likely working under her father or her aunt, Kim Kyong-hui.[4] During 2009 and 2010, she was active in establishing her father's hereditary succession campaign, also working in the National Defense Commission and in her father's personal secretariat.[4] Beginning in March 2009, she joined a group of close aides and family members that appeared at her father's side in his public appearances,[4] but her presence was rarely noted until September 2010, when she was identified among participants at the 3rd Conference of the WPK.[4]

Anonymous public appearances

Kim Yo-jong received much publicity during the funeral service for Kim Jong-il in December 2011, where she appeared alongside her brother Kim Jong-un and led groups of senior party officials in bowing at her father's casket.[7] At the beginning of 2012, she was reportedly given a position at the National Defence Commission as tour manager for her brother,[11] arranging his itineraries, schedule, logistical needs, and security arrangements. She did not appear in news reports of the time except for in November 2012, when the Korean Central Television showed her accompanying Kim Jong-un and her aunt at a military riding ground.[12]

Public recognition

Kim received her first official mention in state media in March 2014, when she accompanied her brother in voting for the Supreme People's Assembly. She was named as a "senior official" of the WPK Central Committee.[13] In October 2014, she was reported to have taken over state duties for her ailing brother while he underwent medical treatment.[14] The following month, she was appointed as First Deputy Director of the party's Propaganda and Agitation Department.[15]

Kim Yo-jong, South Korean President Moon Jae-in and U.S. Vice President Mike Pence at the 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony

Leadership of the Propaganda and Agitation Department

In her role as vice-director at the department, Kim is responsible for “assisting in consolidating Kim Jong-un’s power” by implementing “idolisation projects".[16] In July 2015, reports described her as playing the role of de facto leader of the department, with nominal director Kim Ki-nam in a supporting role.[16][17] She also holds a vice-ministerial post, but her portfolio is not known.[18] She regularly accompanies Kim Jong-un on his "field guidance" trips.[19]

Talks inside the Peace House in April 2018

She has been said to be the driving force behind the development of her brother's cult of personality, modelled after that of their grandfather, Kim Il-sung.[20] Thae Yong-ho, a North Korean defector and former diplomat, said in 2017 that Kim Yo-jong organised all major public events in North Korea. Kim Yo-jong was said to have encouraged her brother to present an image of a "man of the people" with, for example, rides on fairground attractions and his friendship with the basketball star Dennis Rodman.[21][22]

In January 2017, she was placed on the United States Department of the Treasury's Specially Designated Nationals List in response to human rights abuses in North Korea.[23]

Ascension to the Politburo

In October 2017, Kim Yo-jong was made an alternate member of the Politburo,[24] only the second woman to be appointed to this decision-making body.[25] As it was previously speculated,[26] her ascension to the country's supreme governing body may indicate that she is Kim Jong-un’s replacement for his aunt, Kim Kyong-hui (with whom Kim Yo-jong is said to have a good relationship),[27] who has not played an active role in his regime.[22] It has also been hinted that her newly assigned position would also put her in charge of the State Security Department.[28]

Special envoy of Kim Jong-un

On 9 February 2018, Yo-jong attended the 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in Pyeongchang, South Korea. This was the first time that a member of the ruling Kim dynasty had visited South Korea since the Korean War.[29] She met with South Korean President Moon Jae-in on 10 February and revealed she was dispatched as a special envoy of Kim Jong-un and delivered a personally written letter from Kim to Moon.[30] Kim was later part of her brother's team during the 2018 North Korea–United States Singapore Summit[31] and the 2019 North Korea–United States Hanoi Summit. Her involvement in diplomatic affairs continued as she issued an official statement in March 2020 from her capacity as first deputy department director of the party.[32]

According to Kim Yong-hyun, a professor of North Korean studies at Dongguk University in Seoul, and others, the promotion of Kim Yo-jong and others is a sign that "the Kim Jong-un regime has ended its co-existence with the remnants of the previous Kim Jong-il regime by carrying out a generational replacement in the party’s key elite posts".[22] Newsweek's Tom O'Connor echoed this opinion, writing that Kim Yo-jong's rise to power was part of Kim Jong-un's overall plan to appoint younger people in place of his father's older elites who may have harboured doubts about the younger Kim Jong-un's ability to lead North Korea.[33]

Activities since 2019

Kim was elected to the Supreme People's Assembly during the 2019 North Korean parliamentary election,[34] representing Killimgil.[35] In April of the same year, she was briefly removed from the Politburo, before being reinstated in April 2020.[36] She was excluded again from the Politburo elected after the 8th Party Congress and demoted from the first deputy director to a junior department director on 10 January 2021.[37]

On 8 July 2020, Kim was sued by Lee Kyung-jae, an attorney with the South Korean law firm Dongbuka, due to her involvement in the demolition of the Inter-Korean Liaison Office. Lee is also suing Pak Jon-chong who is Chief of the General Staff of the Korean People's Army as well in addition to Kim. Lee also added that Kim had ordered the liaison office to be destroyed and that she was "ultimately responsible" for it being destroyed.[38]

Internet attention

In April 2020, rumors of Kim Jong-un's ill-health brought attention to Kim Yo-jong as a possible successor of the government's leadership in North Korea.[39] During this period, she gained significant attention on social media.[40] In August, she gained additional attention on social media, when Kim Jong-un was reported to have been in a coma.[41]

Personal life

In late 2014, she reportedly married Choe Song,[42] the second son of government official Choe Ryong-hae.[43] Choe Song is thought to be a fellow alumnus of Kim Il-sung University and either an official at Room 39 of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) or working at a military unit responsible for guarding the country's leader.[18] Kim Yo-jong reportedly gave birth to a child in May 2015.[22] During the 2018 Winter Olympics, Kim was alleged to have been pregnant with a second child.[44][45]

See also

References
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  2. "Kim Jong Un's sister fans flames of inter-Korean tensions". Nikkei Asian Review. 16 June 2020. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
  3. "North Korea's Kim Jong Un in coma, sister Kim Yo-jong to take over: Reports". Hindustan Times. 24 August 2020. Retrieved 26 August 2020.
  4. "Kim Yo Jong". North Korea Leadership Watch. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  5. "North Korea Designations". U.S. Department of the Treasury. 1 November 2017. Archived from the original on 6 February 2017. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  6. Lim, Andy (25 March 2014). "Impact Player: Kim Yo-Jong". Center for Strategic and International Studies. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  7. Fifeld, Anna (8 February 2018). "Who is Kim Yo Jong? Here's what we know about the North Korean 'princess.'". Washington Post. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  8. "Kim Yo Jong: Who is the North Korean leader's mysterious sister?". DW.COM. 8 October 2017. Retrieved 9 October 2017.
  9. Harry J., Kazianis (24 July 2019). "Meet Kim Yo-jong: North Korea's Most Powerful Woman". The National Interest. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
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  12. "North Korea Newsletter No. 237". South Korea: Yonhap News Agency. 22 November 2012. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
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  26. Ryall, Julian (6 December 2013). "Kim Jong-un 'preparing to purge aunt'". The Telegraph. United Kingdom. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  27. "KJI Youngest Daughter Working as Events Manager for KJU?". North Korea Leadership Watch. South Korea. 22 July 2013. Archived from the original on 22 December 2013.
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