[News analysis] The rise of Kim Yo-jong

Recent statements issued by Kim Jong-un’s younger sister reflect a massive increase in her political power

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Kim Yo-jong, first deputy director of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea, during the inter-Korean summit at Panmunjom on Apr. 27, 2018. (photo pool)

“Kim Yo-jong, first deputy director of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK), made known [. . .] that we flatly reject the tactless and sinister proposal,” North Korea’s state-run newspaper the Rodong Sinmun said on the second page of its June 17 edition. ”

“The South Korean authorities staged the petty farce of asking us to accept special envoys on June 15,” the article began. “the South side sent a message to the effect that ‘President’ Moon Jae-in hopes to send special envoys to the Chairman of our State Affairs Commission [Kim Jong-un], they are [National Security Office Director Chung Eui-yong] and [National Intelligence Service Director Suh Hoon], the visiting period would be the earliest possible date and it would respect the date to be named by our side.”

In short, the Rodong Sinmun stated that the person who rejected the proposal to send special envoys was Kim Yo-jong, and not “sacred and supreme dignity” Kim Jong-un. This shows that Kim Yo-jong is effectively exercising plenary power over the country — an unprecedented development that demands special attention.

Kim Yo-jong promoted to “number two” position as successor to Kim Jong-un

In a statement released on the evening of June 13, Kim said she was “exercising my power authorized by the Supreme Leader [Kim Jong-un], our Party, and the state.” But it’s quite a different matter if Kim Yo-jong’s “authorized power” includes the authority to determine whether or not to exchange special envoys, an authority reserved to the supreme leader. That has prompted analysts to infer that Kim Yo-jong has risen to the “number two” position in North Korea and has been named the successor to her older brother Kim Jong-un.

Indeed, there is little precedent, either in terms of content or format, for the actions taken by the North Korean authorities and the Rodong Sinmun following the June 4 statement in which Kim Yo-jong unleashed a ferocious barrage against South Korea. There’s extensive evidence suggesting that Kim Yo-jong’s statements are being treated as equal to Kim Jong-un’s.

First, the spokesperson of the United Front Department said in a June 5 statement that Kim is “looking after the affairs with South Korea.” Considering that North Korea’s national slogan is the reunification of the fatherland, the person with the ultimate authority for relations with the South is Kim Jong-un, while the person responsible for handling practical matters pertaining to those relations is Jang Kim-chol, head of the United Front Department (the department in the Workers’ Party of Korea, or WPK, responsible for South Korean affairs).

Second, Kim Yo-jong’s “instructions” have been publicly reported several times in the Rodong Sinmun. For example, a United Front Department statement on June 5 said that “Kim Yo-jong [. . .] gave instructions on Friday to the field in charge of the affairs with South Korea,” and a KCNA report on June 8 said that “Kim Yo-jong [. . .] gave an instruction to completely cut off all the communication and liaison lines between the North and South.” Considering that North Korea holds sacred a system in which all power resides with a single leader, the only person whose “instructions” can be printed in the Rodong Sinmun is the one-and-only supreme leader—namely, Kim Jong-un.

Third, the Rodong Sinmun has been giving considerable coverage on a daily basis to “responses from all sectors,” including public protests against balloons filled with propaganda leaflets launched over the border by defectors, for 13 days now, from Kim Yo-jong’s statement on June 4 until June 16. The statement by Kim Yo-jong was read aloud at all rallies organized by bodies loosely affiliated with the Rodong Sinmun, including the youth league, the employees’ league and the women’s league. Senior officials, including the chair of the Pyongyang WPK committee and the State Planning Commission, have also contributed columns to the Rodong Sinmun.

Kim Yo-jong seems to have authority to even issue orders to N. Korean army

The reading of statements and “reactions from all sectors” are North Korea’s unique methods for mobilizing the public to support special statements and instructions by the supreme leader. Such methods aren’t even available to Choe Ryong-hae, first vice chairman of the State Affairs Commission, the figure regarded as the second most powerful person in the North’s official power structure.

Furthermore, Kim Yo-jong’s authority also appears to include the power to issue orders to the Korean People’s Army (KPA). In her statement on June 13, she said that “the right to [take] the next action against the enemy will be entrusted to the general staff of our army.” Then for two days in a row, on June 16 and 17, the KPA general staff announced follow-up measures. These unusual actions concerning Kim Yo-jong need to be examined in two different respects: the topography of power in North Korea and trends in Korean Peninsula affairs since 2018.

“I’m told that orders have recently been given to summon Kim Yo-jong to the WPK Central Committee,” said Jeong Se-hyun, executive vice-chair of the National Unification Advisory Council, on June 10, while noting that he hadn’t confirmed the veracity of that information.

“Kim Jong-un appears to be focusing on maintaining internal control and resolving economic affairs and to have basically entrusted external and South Korean relations to his ‘number two,’ Kim Yo-jong,” Jeong said.

“The reason Kim Yo-jong is coming on so strongly [against the South] is because consolidating her position as the second most powerful figure in North Korea depends on how the propaganda leaflets issue is resolved,” Jeong suggested on June 15. “I think that the chill in inter-Korean relations will become prolonged.”

Some experts view Kim Jong-un’s absence as a precaution for potential shift in circumstances

Moon Chung-in, special presidential advisor for unification, foreign affairs, and national security, recently observed that “Kim Yo-jong was deeply involved in the inter-Korean and North Korea-US summits since 2018” and concluded that “she has come to the fore in order to take responsibility for the consequential failures.” Under this interpretation, Kim’s actions represent a sort of “self-criticism” that’s aimed at escaping a desperate situation. Moon said that North Korea’s recent hardline stance toward the South represents its attempt to “tackle head on what it feels to be an existential threat” and warned about the threat of military action.

What should we make of Kim Jong-un’s long silence? Rumors that Kim may be facing health problems or that trouble is brewing inside the regime are being raised once again in some quarters, but a knowledgeable source said that Kim doesn’t seem to have any serious health issues. Veteran figures who have long observed the ups and downs of inter-Korean relations regard Kim’s absence and silence as representing a deliberate attempt to take precautions for a potential shift in circumstances.

“We need to focus on the fact that Kim Jong-un isn’t taking center stage,” said a key official at the Blue House.

By Lee Je-hun, senior staff writer

Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]