What future political role awaits Kim Jong Eun’s 27-year-old sister Kim
Yeo Jung?
Her public debut as a “senior official of
the Party Central Committee” occurred alongside Chosun Central Television coverage
of the 13th Supreme People’s Assembly delegate elections, the first to be overseen by the Kim Jong Eun regime.
This is not the first time the younger Kim has been spotted in public.
She has appeared at a handful of official engagements flanking her elder
brother, most notably at the funeral of their father Kim Jong Il. Yesterday, however, marked the first official disclosure of her name and title.
Some are pointing out that Kim Yeo Jung’s emergence is indicative of a wider plan that involves her taking over the reins from Kim
Kyong Hui, Kim Jong Il’s sister and longtime adviser. Kim Kyong Hui has not
been seen in public since the execution of her husband Jang Sung Taek last
December, and rumors continue to persist over her poor health and diminished political
status.
Since no official mention was made of Kim Kyong Hui
before she took over as director of the party’s Light Industry Department in
1988, the debut of the young Kim Yeo Jung may be somewhat premature. However, it may also be a read as a sign of her elevated status in a political environment in which Kim Kyong Hui is no longer in play.
The North Korean media’s description of Kim Yeo Jung
as a “senior official” also hints at a future within the Party Secretariat.
She may well become directly responsible for reporting to her brother, assuming she has not been performing this task already.
Considering the need for the regime to invest in the Kim
family as part of its efforts to idolize the previous generation of leaders,
the most likely position she will take on will be within the party’s Propaganda
and Agitation Department.
It is far less likely the young and inexperienced Kim would
be placed in the formidable Organization and Guidance Department. The same may be said for the Chosun
Democratic Women’s Union, as her as yet undetermined marital status cannot qualify
her for a position with in an organization reserved solely for married women.
One former high-ranking North Korean now living in the South
explained to Daily NK, “If introducing Kim Jong Eun’s wife Ri Sol Ju to the
public had been intended to promote Kim as a ‘guardian’ rather than just a ‘young leader,’ then it was hoped that the introduction of Kim Yeo Jung at the elections would further
strengthen the Mt. Baekdu bloodline.”
Moreover, “It’s possible
she will take on much the same responsibilities that Kim Kyong Hui carried out within
the light industry sector, including direct responsibility for procuring ‘loyalty
capital’ via foreign currency earning enterprises. Kim Jong Eun, who is currently being promoted
as the ‘Highest Dignity,’ may station Kim Yeo Jung at the Propaganda and
Agitation Department and get her to relay the movements of the party cadres, as
well as report back on the progress of idolization propaganda.”
