North Korean leader's sister is 'de facto second-in-command', South Korean lawmaker says

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North Korean leader's sister is 'de facto second-in-command', South Korean lawmaker says

By Sangmi Cha and Josh Smith

 

FILE PHOTO: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his sister Kim Yo Jong attend a meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in at the Peace House at the truce village of Panmunjom inside the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas, South Korea, April 27, 2018. Korea Summit Press Pool/Pool via Reuters

 

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's intelligence agency believes that Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, is serving as his "de facto second-in-command" but has not necessarily been designated his successor, a South Korean lawmaker said on Thursday.

 

Believed to be in her early 30s, Kim Yo Jong is the leader's only close relative with a public role in politics, recently spearheading a new, tougher campaign to put pressure on South Korea.

 

Ha Tae-keung, an opposition party lawmaker on parliament's intelligence committee, told reporters that Kim was helping to run the regime with mandated authority from her brother.

 

"The bottom line is that Kim Jong Un still holds absolute power, but has turned over a bit more of his authority compared to the past," Ha said, following a closed-door briefing by the South's National Intelligence Service.

 

"Kim Yo Jong is a de facto second-in-command," Ha added in a transcript of remarks seen by Reuters.

 

More authority on economic and military policy has also been delegated to several other senior officials, although at a lower level, possibly to reduce strain on Kim Jong Un as well as help him avoid blame for any failures, Ha said.

 

FILE PHOTO: Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un and first vice department director of the ruling Workers’ Party’s Central Committee, arrives at the Dong Dang railway station, Vietnam, at the border with China, February 26, 2019. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha

 

Kim Yo Jong won fame ahead of her brother's 2019 summit with U.S. President Donald Trump in Vietnam, when her efforts to ensure everything went well included holding an ashtray for the North Korean leader at a train station on his journey.

 

Her prominence in the campaign against South Korea this year highlighted a substantive policy role that goes beyond being merely Kim's assistant, analysts say.

 

She issued her first public statements to spray criticism at the neighbouring nation, and the North's state media portrayed her as playing a decision-making role.

 

In July, she offered personal views on diplomacy with the United States in an unusual statement in state media, saying her brother had given her special permission to watch recordings of that country's Independence Day celebrations.

 

When rumours and speculation arose in April about Kim Jong Un's health, his sister was seen a possible placeholder to take over the family dynasty until one of Kim's children is old enough.

 

Kim Yo Jong has been absent, however, from several recent high-level meetings, such as a plenary gathering of the ruling Workers' Party on Wednesday, said NK News, a Seoul-based website that tracks North Korea.

 

That has stirred some speculation about a possible demotion.

 

(Reporting by Sangmi Cha and Josh Smith; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-08-21

 

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[Jack Mountain]

From dead to 2nd in command, quite a career move ...

[ezzra]

To paraphrase, Behind every tyrant there's a women...

[tonray]

Fat Boy is on the way out.....if his bad eating habits don't get him....little Sis certainly will make sure something else does. Perhaps if she dyes her hair blonde, Trump can have a real love affair

[Puchaiyank]

They just now figuring that out?  Thought that was common knowledge...

[klauskunkel]

I wonder who mows her lawn...

[Tug]

5 minutes ago, klauskunkel said:

I wonder who mows her lawn...

Who knows no ones lived to tell the tale Donald must be brevet with sorrow for his fat little buddy 

[car720]

34 minutes ago, klauskunkel said:

I wonder who mows her lawn...

most probably her brother. 

[car720]

He had better tread carefully with her, or get rid of her.

[anterian]

2 hours ago, tonray said:

Fat Boy is on the way out.....if his bad eating habits don't get him....little Sis certainly will make sure something else does. Perhaps if she dyes her hair blonde, Trump can have a real love affair

Putin can offer a nice line of discrete poisons. 

[Bender Rodriguez]

2020 and he still don't have a clone ?