Foreign Affairs
Kim Jong Un’s Little Sister To Make Landmark Trip To South Korea
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North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un’s influential younger sister is heading to the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in South Korea, officials in Seoul revealed Wednesday.
Kim Yo Jong, a rising figure among North Korean leadership, will be the first member of the North Korean ruling family to visit South Korea since the two countries were left divided by war, and much speculation surrounds her visit.
President Donald Trump is reportedly sending his daughter Ivanka to the Games, so Kim Jong Un may be sending his little sister to signal that he and the American president are equals, Hong Min, an analyst at Seoul’s Korea Institute for National Unification suggested to the Associated Press.
As one of Kim Jong Un’s closest advisers, his sister may bring a message from her brother, the BBC wrote. Kim Yo Jong is believed to play an important role in shaping state policies, making her the best dialogue partners short of the North Korean leader himself.
Others assess that this is part of Kim Jong Un’s broader efforts to groom his younger sister for greater power. She received a major promotion to the Political Bureau last year.
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Much like her brother, Kim Yo Jong was not very well known until just a few years before her brother took power after the death of their father. She became an influential figure after she became the deputy director of the ruling party’s Propaganda and Agitation Department, where she helped to craft the way the North Korean people perceived her older brother.
Kim Yo Jong is suspected to have taken command of the state during a period of time when Kim Jong Un is believed to have been out of commission with a bad case of gout or diabetes, according to CNN.
Kim Jong Un’s little sister may encounter certain difficulties traveling to South Korea, as she is currently blacklisted by the U.S. government for various human rights violations.
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