North Korean leader Kim Jong Eun’s younger sister, Kim Yo Jong, has been confirmed in state media as a vice department director in the Central Committee of the ruling Chosun Workers’ Party [WPK]. This is the first time a North Korean media outlet has revealed the specific post held by Kim’s younger sister; she was previously referred to as “a responsible worker of the WPK Central Committee.”
Confirmation came in a November 27th Rodong Sinmun article about the leader’s recent trip to the Korea April 26 Cartoon Film Studio, wherein the younger Kim was listed as a member of the
entourage for the “onsite guidance” visit. She was cited third on the list of accompanying officials.
The paper did not mention the department
for which Kim works, but she was accompanying Party Secretary Kim Ki Nam and First Vice Department Director Ri Jae Il, both from the WPK
Propaganda and Agitation Department, and the onsite visit was to a site of propaganda production. This makes it highly likely that she is in the same
department.
Kim Yo Jong made her first public
appearance at Kim Jong Il’s funeral in December 2011.
Following the execution of Jang Song Taek and the mysterious disappearance of
Kim Kyung Hee, Jang’s wife and Kim Jong Eun’s aunt, she is widely believed to have risen in stature, playing a support role for her brother during the regime transition phase.
According to the article, the purpose of the onsite visit was to “put the film making in full
progress as movies play an important role in educating the people, establishing
the stirring atmosphere in society, and propelling the revolution and
construction.”
During the visit, Kim Jong Eun stated, “If cartoon films can aid in Chosun superiority, collectivism, and
class idea education [sic.], as well as making scientific decisions, and exercising
logical deductions and thinking, they should be made so they can enhance a
beautiful, elegant spirit and moral qualities.”
The Korea April 26 Cartoon Film Studio is perhaps best known for The Boy General, a cartoon film based around the Goguryeo
Kingdom. Put out in the early 1980s, the animation proved popular among both
children and adults. The studio was established in September 1957 under
orders from Kim Il Sung and was called the April 26 Children’s Film Studio until late 2012. It adopted its current name in 2013.
