North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s sister, Kim Wo-jung, the first vice minister of the Workers’ Party, was seen as gradually taking control of political power in North Korea, and the South Korean government believes that Kim Wo-jung may be promoted to the “core of power” as a member of the Politburo at the 8th Workers’ Party Congress next January. Once he joins the Politburo, he will be the second most powerful person in North Korea.
According to South Korea’s Dong-A Ilbo, the South Korean government told North Korean officials that Kim is likely to become a member of the Politburo at the party congress because he has given seven talks this year alone, and the change in his actual status will be reflected in his increased official status at the party congress.
Some analysts say that as Kim becomes a member of the Politburo, she may be promoted to a minister of the party’s central committee at the same time, most likely as the organization director who conducts ideological checks on the core elite and has the power to appoint personnel. It is known that the organization director, Lee Wan-jian, was removed from his post this year, and Kim has taken control of the organization directorate and may have already been performing his duties as director.
Looking at Kim’s past experience, she was appointed as deputy head of the Party Central Committee’s Propaganda Department in 2014, a member of the Party Central Committee in 2016, and an alternate member of the Politburo in 2017, when her official title was changed to “First Vice Minister. In February 2018, Kim visited South Korea as a special envoy of Kim Jong-un during the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, and this year, she is in full charge of state affairs, with full responsibility for business with South Korea and the United States.
The Politburo member is the “core of the core” of North Korea’s power system, and the institutional consolidation of Kim Woong-jung’s position consolidates Kim Jong-un’s one-man dictatorial power structure, according to analysis by Lim Eui-dae, a professor at the Institute for Far Eastern Studies at South Korea’s Kyungnam University. The government’s decision to take over the role of the Politburo member is a matter of concern,” said Kim In-tae, a member of the National Institute of Security and Strategic Studies, who said that the most important part of the party congress is the change in Kim’s status.
Recent Comments