Kim Yo Jong: The New Face of Dictatorship?
Recently, North Korea's supreme leader, Kim Jong Un, was in news for missing the celebration of his grandfather's birthday on April 15, which raised speculation about his well-being. He had been seen four days before at a government meeting.
Reports claim that he is in grave danger after undergoing a previous surgery, according to a US official with direct knowledge.
This speculations has raised question of successor if the situation arises; and therefore his sister, Kim Yo Jong has become the focus of global attention. Not much is known of this lady. But in the last two years, she has the most visible presence around the leader, serving formally as a vice director of the ruling Workers' Party's powerful Central Committee but unofficially as her brother's chief of staff.
Here’s what you should know about Kim Yo Jong
Kim was born in September 1987, the daughter of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il. She is said to have had a close relationship with brother Kim Jong-un from an early age.
Both studied together in Switzerland between 1996 and 2000 with each depending on the other for company and support during those isolated years. It is believed she went on to further her education at the Kim Il-sung Military University and then computer science at the Kim Il-sung University.
The Kim family dynasty has ruled North Korea for three generations since its founding after World War II, when the Soviet Union and the U.S. divided up control of the Korean Peninsula. Over that time, it has built up one of the world’s most vigorous personality cults - making the preeminent claim to legitimacy in the dictatorship a bloodline said to stem from the sacred Mount Paektu near the Chinese border.
Relationship With Her Brother
Her first popular appearance was when she was by her brother’s side at the time of their father’s death. She soon had a position in the Workers’ Party Propaganda and Agitation Department, according to South Korea, where she was responsible for managing the image of the leader in state media.
She steadily rose through the ranks and became a closer confidante to her brother, accompanying him on inspection tours of factories, farms and military units. Then her high-profile appearances on the international stage, which included mundane tasks like helping the leader extinguish a cigarette during a train stop in China, helped cement her status. She has a firm control of key party functions, setting herself to be the main source of power behind a collective leadership.
“Yo Jong’s role will likely be limited to a regent at most” due to North Korea’s feudal patriarchy, said Yoo Ho-yeol, who teaches North Korean studies at Korea University and formerly advised South Korea’s unification ministry and defense ministry. “Not only the male-dominant leadership, but also ordinary people there would resist a female leader.”
Political pursuits over the years:
She was very rarely seen in public until 2010, when she was photographed at a party conference, but became prominent in the lead up to her father's death in 2011.
In 2014, In November 2014, Yo-jong was named First Deputy Director of the Workers Party's Propaganda and Agitation Department.
She was made a member of the politburo, the party's most senior ruling committee, in 2017, giving her even greater power including over state security.
In 2018, she represented North Korea and her brother at the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. Later that year, she attended the Singapore summit on June 11 between Donald Trump and the North Korean leader. The dictator's sister was spotted at the signing between the two leaders.
At the 2019 North Korean parliamentary elections, Kim Yo-jong was elected to the Supreme People's Assembly as a representative for Killimgil.
In early April 2020, she was reinstated to the party’s powerful politburo according to the state Korean Central News Agency.
She has had a remarkable return to favour after falling out of grace with her brother following her removal from the role in 2019 and ordered to keep a low profile.
On paper, there is nothing stopping a woman from taking power in North Korea, even though its rubber-stamp parliament shows the vast majority of its members are older men, one of the least gender diverse in the world. People are stanning her to be the future female leader, however it is just a matter of time to find out when the ball starts rolling and to which court.
