Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, has been promoted to department head at the ruling Workers' Party of Korea during the ongoing party congress. According to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), she was previously a vice department director and was reelected as an alternate member of the central committee's political bureau. Seoul's unification ministry is closely watching whether her new role involves handling relations with South Korea or external strategies.
The first plenary meeting of the ninth central committee of North Korea's Workers' Party of Korea promoted Kim Yo-jong to department head. The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Tuesday that she was named one of 17 newly elected department directors of the party's new central committee. She had previously served as vice department director. The KCNA did not specify which department she will head, but experts presume it could be the propaganda department, where she has been working. In her new role, she is likely to oversee inter-Korean relations or external strategies.
The plenary meeting took place the previous day as part of the ongoing party congress, which began last Thursday to review policy outcomes from the 2021 congress and establish goals for the next five years. At the meeting, Kim Yo-jong was also reelected as an alternate member of the central committee's political bureau, returning to the position after five years.
The session expanded the party's secretariat from seven to 11 members, possibly adding positions for international affairs, with Kim Song-nam, chief of the international affairs department, newly appointed as a secretary. A Seoul unification ministry official said the large-scale leadership changes appear aimed at promoting a generational shift and solidifying Kim Jong-un's state leadership and the party's guidance.
Jo Yong-won, the party secretary for organization and one of Kim's closest aides, retained his seat on the politburo presidium but was removed as secretary. This move is likely a step toward his appointment as chairman of the standing committee of North Korea's Supreme People's Assembly, following Choe Ryong-hae's earlier relief from the post at the congress. After the congress concludes, North Korea is expected to form a new parliament and pursue constitutional revisions or other measures to reflect the party meeting's results.
The KCNA report indicated the politburo presidium consists of Kim Jong-un, Jo Yong-won, Premier Pak Thae-song, and party secretaries Kim Jae-ryong and Ri Il-hwan. Kim Song-gi, appointed to the Party Politburo and Central Military Commission, appears to have taken over as director of the General Political Bureau of the Korean People's Army after his predecessor Jong Kyong-thaek's departure. The personnel decisions did not include Ju-ae, Kim's daughter, who has been assessed as a likely heir.
