Workers' Party's politburo, on Monday, was raising questions on the status of their leader Kim Jung Un's sister Kim Yo Jong as per the state media as her name was missing from a new list of the ruling. It appeared as though Kim Yo had been demoted.
Kim Yo Jong, over the years, has accumulated clout in a predominately patriarchal North Korea. The party, on Sunday, held elections for its Central Committee at a congress, which maps out diplomatic, military and economic policy goals over the next five years.
Kim Yo Jong remained a member of the Central Committee. In August 2020, Kim Yo Jong was named Kim Jong Un's second-in-command and given the responsibility to shape policies towards Seoul and Washington. The absence of her name from the new list of ruling therefore sent out mixed signals to observers of the regime.
Kim Yo Jong is the second woman to join the exclusive politburo after her aunt Kim Kyong Hui. Her brother cemented his power after getting elected as the party's general secretary, a position previously held by his late father Kim Jong II. Kim Jong II was named “eternal general secretary,” posthumously in 2012. The congress “fully approved” proposal to promote Kim Jong to the position it called “top brain of the revolution” and “centre of the leadership and the unity,” KCNA reported. With this, Kim Jong has officially joined the ranks of his father and grandfather.
Lim Eul-chul, a professor of North Korean studies at Kyungnam University in Seoul told Reuters, "It is too early to draw any conclusion about her status, as she is still a Central Committee member and there's a possibility that she has taken up other important posts."