N. Korean leader’s sister named as senior official

AP Wire Service

Kim Yo Jong

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea has revealed that leader Kim Jong Un’s younger sister is a senior official in the ruling Workers’ Party, adding to analysts’ views that she is an increasingly important part of the family dynasty that runs the country.

State media on Thursday referred to Kim Yo Jong as a departmental vice director within the party’s Central Committee.

Analysts say the mention could signal Kim Yo Jong’s growing role in supporting her brother’s authoritarian rule. The siblings’ late father, former leader Kim Jong Il, was seen as relying on his own sister during his 17-year rule.

Outsiders closely study North Korea’s opaque ruling power dynamics for clues about a secretive country that pursues nuclear weapons and threatens its neighbors with war. (end)