SEOL
\nNorth Korea\u2019s ruling party has elevated leader Kim Jong Un\u2019s powerful younger sister to a top position, state media said on Tuesday, a sign of her far-reaching influence within the reclusive nation. Thousands of party elites have packed the capital Pyongyang for a once-in-five-years summit of the ruling Workers\u2019 Party, a gathering that directs state efforts on everything from diplomacy to war planning.
\nKim Yo Jong \u2014 long considered one of her brother\u2019s closest lieutenants \u2014 was promoted to department director within the party\u2019s apex central committee, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said. Although it was not clear which department she would lead, she has previously held a senior role within the party\u2019s propaganda unit.
\nKim Yo Jong has in recent years emerged as one of the most powerful figures in North Korea, playing a highly visible role in diplomacy, nuclear negotiations and other matters of state. \u201cKim Yo Jong is one of the very few people Kim Jong Un can trust and rely on,\u201d said Ahn Chan-il, a researcher originally from North Korea.
\n\u201cShe also served as a working-level official for Kim\u2019s summits with Trump in Singapore and Hanoi. She is experienced and seasoned,\u201d he told media. Kim Yo Jong burst on to the international scene in 2018, when she was dispatched to Seoul as North Korea\u2019s envoy for the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.
\nWith that trip, she became one of the first members of the ruling Kim dynasty to set foot in the South since the Korean War. Since then she has gained a reputation for her vitriolic denunciations of Washington and Seoul. She once derided the government of former South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol as a \u201cfaithful dog\u201d of the United States. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
SEOL North Korea\u2019s ruling party has elevated leader Kim Jong Un\u2019s powerful younger sister to a top position, state media said on Tuesday, a sign of her far-reaching influence within the reclusive nation. Thousands of party elites have packed the capital Pyongyang for a once-in-five-years summit of the ruling Workers\u2019 Party, a gathering that directs […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":533360,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-533348","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n