Kim Jong Un promotes sister at key North Korea ruling party summit
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Kim Jong Un promotes sister at key North Korea ruling party summit
Story highlights
- Kim Yo Jong has been a key aide to her brother since he became North Korean leader
- Russian lawmaker says Pyongyang may test a long-range missile in coming days
Seoul (CNN)North
Korean leader Kim Jong Un's younger sister Kim Yo Jong was promoted
Saturday at a key meeting of the country's ruling party, state media
reported.
Kim Yo
Jong's profile has been rising since 2014, when she was made deputy
director of the Propaganda and Agitation Department of the Workers'
Party. She and Kim Jong Un were born to the same mother, Ko Yong Hui.
Like most members of the Kim clan, little is definitively known about Kim Yo Jong beyond her official rank. According to NK Leadership Watch,
she is a close aide of her brother's "and since his accession manages
his public events, itineraries and logistical needs, among other tasks."
Kim
Yo Jong was selected as an alternate member of the Political Bureau of
the Central Committee of the Worker's Party at the Second Plenum of the
party's 7th Central Committee.
Also
in the reshuffle, according to state news agency KCNA, North Korean
Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho was selected as a member of the Politburo
and Choe Ryong Hae, vice chairman of the Worker's Party and a close aide
to Kim Jong Un, was appointed to the party's Central Military
Commission.
Kim Yo Jong, the youngest sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, seen in March 2014.
Shadowy figure
The Politburo is the North Korean regime's top decision-making body, led by Kim Jong Un.
According to NK Leadership Watch,
a project of The US-Korea Institute, members and alternate members of
the politburo can take part in debates and meetings, but only full
members can vote.
A recent major
decision by the Politburo was the expulsion in December 2013 of Kim's
uncle and high-ranking party member Jang Song Thaek, who was later executed for treason.
Born
in 1987, Kim Yo Jong studied in Switzerland like her brother and is
believed to have attended Kim Il Sung University and a western European
school for her higher education.
"Since
her brother's accession to the supreme leadership of (North Korea), Kim
Yo Jong has been routinely observed attending Kim Jong Un's public
appearances," NK Leadership Watch said.
Her position is such that, according to a Seoul-based think tank run by North Korean defectors, Kim Yo Jong briefly took charge of the country while her brother was reportedly ill with gout or diabetes in late 2014.
Nukes a 'powerful deterrent'
The key meeting of the Worker's Party comes amid an ongoing standoff between North Korea and the United States.
On Sunday, US President Donald Trump was critical of past attempts to reign in North Korea's missile and nuclear programs.
"Presidents
and their administrations have been talking to North Korea for 25
years, agreements made and massive amounts of money paid ... hasn't
worked, agreements violated before the ink was dry, makings fools of US
negotiators," Trump wrote on Twitter. "Sorry, but only one thing will work!"
In
a speech Saturday, Kim Jong Un said the country's nuclear weapons "are a
precious fruition borne by its people's bloody struggle for defending
the destiny and sovereignty of the country from the protracted nuclear
threats of the US imperialists."
North
Korea has long defended its nuclear program as essential to defend the
country against US aggression, pointing to the experience of countries
like Iraq and Libya.
Nuclear
weapons, Kim said, are a "powerful deterrent firmly safeguarding the
peace and security in the Korean peninsula and Northeast Asia and
reliably guaranteeing the Korean nation's sovereignty."
October
10 marks the founding anniversary of the Worker's Party. North Korea
has in the past marked key dates with missile or nuclear tests.
Last week, Russian lawmaker Anton Morozov, recently returned from Pyongyang, told state media preparations were underway for "new tests of a long-range missile."
Despite the pro-nuclear rhetoric, Kim's speech was also heavily focused on the economy, which has proven surprisingly resilient despite being heavily targeted by US and international sanctions.
According
to KCNA, Kim "noted with appreciation that the country's science and
technology have developed by leaps and bounds and the national economy
has grown on their strength this year, despite the escalating sanctions
of the US imperialists and their vassal forces."
Advocates of dialog with North Korea have pointed
to increased economic ties as a potential avenue toward deescalation of
tensions and improved relations both between North and South Korea and
Pyongyang and Washington.
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