What Kim Jong-un's beautiful sister is known for and why she will become the ruler of North Korea

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Western publications have long drawn attention to the absence of the North Korean leader even at extremely important ideological events. There are speculations about Kim Jong-un's poor health and a possible change of government in the country. Western political analysts and journalists suggest that Kim Yeo-jong, the younger sister of the ruler, whose influence on his brother has not been questioned for a long time, may take the post of the leader of the DPRK.

Path in politics

She was born into the family of the country's leader Kim Jong Il and his unofficial wife, former dancer Ko Yeon Hee, becoming the third child of the couple. According to some reports, Kim Jong Il was very fond of his youngest daughter, calling her "cute Yeo Jung" and "Princess Yeo Jung".

Since childhood, "Princess Yeo Jung" has been very close to Kim Jong Un. Together with her brothers Kim Jong Chol and Kim Jong Un, she was sent to study in Switzerland, where they were from 1996 to 2000. At the same time, an unofficial version of the finding of children abroad is considered to be the father's attempt to protect the heirs from the influence of their grandfather, Kim Il Sung. The heirs of the ruler of the DPRK studied under pseudonyms for security purposes, and lived in a separate house with personal security and a staff of service personnel.

After returning home, her father's favorite, it is likely, continued her studies at the Military University, and then studied computer technology at Kim Il Sung University. Already during this period, the girl's interest in politics was clearly manifested, which became a source of pride for her father, who repeatedly stated in an interview about his daughter's dreams of making a career as a politician.

But for several years, Kim Yeo-jung rarely appeared in the public eye and first came to the center of press attention in early fall 2010 as a participant in a party conference. The media got a photo where the girl was standing next to her father's secretary. After that, she began to accompany Kim Jong Il from time to time.

In 2011, at the funeral of Kim Yeo-jung's father, not being a member of the funeral committee, she was practically at the head of the procession with her brother, but her name was never mentioned in the report. In early 2012, she took over as tour manager for the National Defense Commission, with no news coverage. An exception was the appearance with his brother at a military training ground in the fall of the same year.

Her name appeared in the press the next time in March 2014, when Kim Yeo-jong accompanied the ruler to vote in the Supreme People's Assembly, and in the media for the first time she was designated as a "high-ranking official" of the Central Committee of the DPRK Labor Party. At that time, she was a member of the country's highest authority.

In the fall of 2014, according to unverified reports, Kim Yeo Jong actually ruled the country during the period of her brother's illness and treatment. After that, she officially took the post of deputy head of the propaganda and agitation department of the Central Committee of the party, then became vice minister.

Very little is known about Kim Yeo Jung's personal life. It was reported that she was married to Choi Sun, the second son of the deputy chairman of the ruling party, and her child was due to be born in May 2015. The identity of the father has not been established, it is assumed that he holds one of the positions either in a secret organization or in the security service of Kim Jong-un.

Gray cardinal or future ruler?

It was Kim Yeo Jong who became the ideological inspirer and director of the Kim Jong Un personality cult, which developed according to a script written during the reign of Kim Il Sung. The current leader of the DPRK has practically no people around him whom he could trust unconditionally.

The only person who has influence over him and is respected by Kim Jong Un is Kim Yeo Jung. She carefully monitors the construction of his public image both at home and abroad. Following her recommendations, Kim Jong-un visits theme parks, schools and ordinary citizens' homes, and also maintains friendly relations with former NBA star Dennis Rodman.

But even kinship with the ruler cannot save people from total purges at the slightest hint of behavior that is undesirable to the leader or a threat to his rule. He without a shadow of regret ordered the execution of his uncle Jang Song-taek in 2013, and his involvement in the assassination of his half-brother Kim Jong Nam in February 2017, although not proven, is very likely.

Kim Yeo-jung has been the brother's closest advisor and confidant for many years. She often accompanied him to official meetings, acted as his representative at the Pyongyang Winter Olympics and attended the official meetings of the DPRK leader with the leaders of the United States and South Korea.

And even falling into temporary disfavor, she was able to regain her position. After the disastrous summit of Kim Jong-un with Donald Trump in Hanoi for North Korea, according to analysts, Kim Yeo-jong lost all her posts, but in the spring of 2020 she again became a candidate for membership in the Politburo of the Workers' Party of Korea.

This reinstatement was preceded by a series of political statements made by Kim Yeo-jung on his own behalf and the appointment as first deputy of the Labor Party Central Committee. This fact, according to analysts, is direct evidence of the central role of Kim Jong-un's sister in the political rating of North Korea and her readiness to replace her brother as the country's leader.

True, some experts believe that the national traditions of the Confucian country, based on respect for masculinity and seniority, are playing against Kim Yeo Jung, which will not allow Kim Yeo Jong to become a leader. The current appointment suggests that she is only a faithful assistant and reliable ally of Kim Jong-un.

North Korea is a state with its own principles, rules, procedures and charter. Perhaps this is one of the few countries around which there are still many different opinions, doubts and guesses. And it is not at all surprising that most of humanity outside of it has a genuine interest in learning how people actually live in the DPRK. Especially when it comes to fashion.