Kim Yo Jong, the powerful younger sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, has resurfaced at a high-profile party congress in Pyongyang in her first public appearance since intelligence reports said she had been sidelined as heir in favor of her teenage niece, Kim Ju Ae.
State media showed the 38-year-old Kim Yo Jong seated close to her brother during a week-long congress of the ruling Workers’ Party, where she was formally promoted to the post of full department director, after previously serving as a deputy director. South Korean media and analysts say she has been placed in charge of the powerful propaganda and agitation department, which also gives her significant influence over inter-Korean policy and external messaging. The promotion suggests Kim Jong Un still relies heavily on his sister as a key political lieutenant, even as he engineers a different line of succession.
Her reappearance comes roughly two weeks after South Korea’s National Intelligence Service briefed lawmakers that Kim is preparing to officially designate his 13-year-old daughter, Kim Ju Ae, as his successor. The girl, the only one of his children to be publicly identified, has been increasingly visible at major military events and party ceremonies, which Seoul’s spy agency says is consistent with succession “training” and a move into a formal “successor designation” phase. If she eventually takes power, she would become North Korea’s first female ruler and the fourth generation of the Kim dynasty to lead the country.
Analysts say Kim Yo Jong’s new role is likely designed to keep her firmly inside the leader’s inner circle while managing any internal resentment over being passed over. Ahn Chan-il, a prominent North Korean defector and scholar, argued that the promotion allows Kim Jong Un to maintain tight control over propaganda, foreign strategy and inter-Korean affairs, while also ensuring his sister “stays satisfied” with her status. Despite losing out in the reported succession battle, she remains one of the few people the North Korean leader is believed to genuinely trust.
Kim Ju Ae’s rise has intensified speculation about future power struggles within the ruling family, with some observers warning that an eventual contest between aunt and niece cannot be ruled out in a system where purges and intra-family violence have marked previous transitions. For now, however, Kim Yo Jong’s prominent presence at the congress and her expanded portfolio signal that the regime is projecting unity around Kim Jong Un’s leadership, even as it quietly lays the groundwork for the next generation.
