North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has given his younger sister Kim Yo-Jong more responsibilities, including overseeing the country’s often-tested relationship with the United States and South Korea, according to reports from a Seoul spy agency.
While Kim still maintains “absolute authority,” he has delegated more responsibilities to his sister and a handful of other employees in an effort to reduce his stress level, the National Intelligence Service claimed.
Kim Yo-Jong, who is in her early 30s, will now “steer general state affairs”, the NIS added.
KIM JONG UN DECLARES NORTH KOREA WANTS TO COMBAT COMMONAVIRUS AID, HELP REBUILD AFTER FLOOD DAMAGE
The claims of additional responsibilities were finally made during a briefing with a closed door on Thursday to the National Assembly of South Korea. Lawmakers then discussed the findings with journalists, the BBC reported, adding that the claims were not 100% certain and that South Korea’s spy office had been wrong about its neighbor in the past.
NIS claimed that the younger sister is now “the de facto number two leader”, but insisted that Kim “had not selected a successor.”
Yo-Jong is the only one of Kim’s sisters who is considered a close and powerful ally. She was born in 1987. She and her brother lived and studied together in Bern, Switzerland.
Yo-Jong grabbed international headlines in 2018 when she became the first member of the Kim dynasty to visit South Korea as part of the delegation to the Winter Olympics, where North Korea and South Korea competed as a joint team.
She has also attended high-profile international meetings alongside her brother, including those with China’s Xi Jinping and President Trump.
In June, they invaded South Korea and threatened military action following a decline in relations. She also took aim at the inter-Korean liaison office in Kaesong, a border town, and promised a ‘tragic scene’ after accusing the South of not doing its part to stop an anti-North Korean leaf campaign. Activists often fly balloons in North Korea carrying pamphlets criticizing the leadership. Yo-Jong called the perpetrators of the leaf campaign “human scum” and “mongrel dogs.”
CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS APP
In April, after Jong Un had disappeared from the public eye, rumors circulated that she might replace him as leader of the country. He has since risen again.
