North Korean leader Kim Jong-un raised the standing of his sister as a key player in the secretive state and bolstered his new foreign minister in a cadre shuffle that comes as he tries to fend off the COVID-19 pandemic.
Part emissary, part personal assistant, Kim Yo-jong was reinstated to her position as an alternate politburo member of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea, state media said on Saturday.
The move returned her to the powerful decisionmaking body after she left the post in April last year and follows a series of roles since that included responding to overtures from US President Donald Trump.
Photo: EPA-EFE / KCNA
“Her media profile over the years suggests that her profile will continue to rise and that her role will continue to expand,” said Rachel Minyoung Lee, a former North Korea analyst with the US government.
North Korean Army Chief of Staff General Pak Jong-chon, former head of the army’s artillery division, was also named a full member of the politburo, while Minister of Foreign Affairs Ri Son-gwon, a former army officer who once led talks with South Korea, was named an alternate member.
“Pak’s quick promotion and Ri’s lower position in the Political Bureau seem to reflect Kim Jong-un’s policy priorities — national defense, with an emphasis on artillery over diplomacy,” Lee said.
North Korea held two major events over the weekend, with Kim Jong-un overseeing a meeting of the politburo on Saturday addressing the “danger” of the coronavirus pandemic. Its rubber-stamp parliament met on Sunday to implement the national budget.
While North Korea claims it has seen no coronavirus infections, the pandemic has put new pressures on the regime, which could see its antiquated and underfunded medical system overwhelmed by an outbreak. Kim Jong-un brought his already isolated country to a near standstill by sealing the borders in January to stop the virus, which halted the trickle of legal trade and tourism.
Meanwhile, he has kept his weapons program churning, test-launching nine short-range ballistic missiles last month — a monthly record.
Kim Yo-jong was thrust into the global spotlight when she served as envoy to the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, and became the first member of the immediate ruling family to visit Seoul.
Last month, she provided the regime’s response to a letter from Trump, saying that her brother’s “very excellent” relationship with the US leader was not enough to offset broader differences between the two sides.
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