On Jan. 25, Kim Kyong Hui, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un\u2019s paternal aunt (and Kim Jong Il’s sister), appeared publicly for the first time in six years following her husband Jang Song Taek\u2019s execution in 2013. North Korean state media reported that Kim accompanied Kim Jong Un to a Lunar New Year concert on that day. Her appearance is a sign that Kim Jong Un still faces obstacles to securing total control over his country.<\/p>\n
Some have suggested that Kim Kyong Hui\u2019s reappearance means that Kim Jong Un has finally begun to stand alone. In other words, only because he felt secure in his firm grasp on power did he reintroduce her to the public eye in spite of their thorny relationship. Others have claimed that the move was aimed at drumming up public support for the \u201cfrontal breakthrough offensive\u201d officially announced at the 5th Plenary Meeting of the 7th Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK), by playing up ideas of unity in the Mount Paektu Bloodline and familial harmony.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n On some level, these analyses make sense. North Korea currently appears to be stepping up efforts to unite the country, holding public rallies reaffirming the \u201cfrontal breakthrough offensive\u201d proposed by Kim Jong Un. Bringing in a figure as symbolic as Kim Kyong Hui at such a time would not only consolidate Kim Jong Un\u2019s autocratic rule even further, it would accentuate anti-American sentiment, impose austerity on the people, and provide justification for the \u201cfrontal breakthrough offensive.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Yet from another perspective, Kim Kyong Hui\u2019s reemergence speaks to the fact that Kim Jong Un\u2019s level of control over the regime is still imperfect. Firstly, the timing of Kim Kyong Hui\u2019s reappearance is suspicious. If Kim Jong Un truly has taken total command of the North Korean regime and wanted to put his confidence on display, doing so immediately after announcing the completion of North Korea\u2019s nuclear armament in late November 2017 would have been much more timely. At the time, tensions between North Korea and the US were so high that war seemed imminent and North Korea repeatedly emphasized its \u201cstrategic position.\u201d Wouldn\u2019t this have been the best time to put forward someone like Kim Kyong Hui, an icon of the Mount Paektu bloodline, so that she could elevate Kim Jong Un\u2019s greatness and maximize regime unity?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n INCREASING DISSATISFACTION AMONG THE PEOPLE<\/p>\n Yet with little to show for the denuclearization negotiations with the US, North Koreans are increasingly dissatisfied with the current state of affairs. The fact that Kim Jong Un, now on the defensive, summoned someone as symbolic as Kim Kyong Hui indicates that the situation is precarious. It seems that if Kim Jong Un really wanted to put his confidence in standing alone and achieving full regime control on display, he wouldn\u2019t need to bring Kim Kyong Hui back into the picture. That Kim Jong Un needs to borrow Kim Kyong Hui\u2019s cachet shows that things aren\u2019t going well for him.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Secondly, Kim Kyong Hui\u2019s reemergence can also be read as a sign that North Korea is moving toward hardline conservatism. Not long ago, North Korea appointed Ri Son Gwon as the new minister of foreign affairs. A close confidante of Kim Yong Chol, who was until recently the head of the United Front Department (UFD), Ri is seen as part of the same group of hardliners. In this context, reintroducing Kim Kyong Hui, a \u201chardline reactionary,\u201d can be seen as a roundabout expression of Kim Jong Un\u2019s will to intensify the fight against \u201cnon-socialism\u201d and \u201canti-socialism.\u201d Of course, with no official title in the WPK, it is highly unlikely that Kim Kyong Hui will actually exercise any political influence.<\/span><\/p>\n KIM JONG UN’S WEAK POWER BASE<\/p>\n