Kim Jong-un uses his sister to play this terrifying role in North Korea’s regime, according to expert

A recent documentary has revealed the important role that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s sister, Kim Yo-jong, plays in his regime.

Kim Yo-jong's pivotal role in the regime

The documentary by Al Jazeera’s101 East entitled The Rise of North Korea’s Most Powerful Woman examines how Kim Yo-jong has become her brother’s 'number two and possible successor'.

As Kim Yo-jong has risen within the ranks of her brother’s regime, the responsibility of keeping other countries in check has fallen on her shoulders. In 2023 alone, the Supreme Leader’s sister threatened South Korea and the United States at least three times.

Jean Lee, one of the few journalists who was in Pyongyang at the time of Kim Jong-il’s death in 2011, reveals why it is always Kim Yo-jong who issues these terrifying warnings. She says:

It does leave Kim Jong-un with the ability to hold down the fort at home, and also, when she is attributed to these extremely harsh statements against North Korea and the United States, it still leaves him above it, above the fray.

Read more ⋙ Kim Jong-un's sister makes bizarre claim Ukraine is provoking a 'nuclear disaster'

Read more:

⋙ Kim Jong-un’s sister sends stark warning to US and South Korea, the ‘worst maniacs’

⋙ Kim Jong-un's sister sends dire warning to US in a rare public statement

Kim Jong-un and Kim Yo-jong's bond

The documentary also explores the relationship between the Supreme Leader and his sister. Former South Korean presidential advisor, Cheong Seong-Chang, said:

He [Kim Jong-un] and his sister were close from a young age, with both sent to school in Europe.

He reveals:

When Kim Jong-un was in Switzerland, Kim Yo-jong was with him. So, they went to Disneyland together, and because they travelled around Europe together, you could say Kim Jong-un and Kim Yo-jong shared a lot of the same experiences.

And this bond only strengthened over time as Kim Yo-jong became an 'indispensable political figure in North Korea'.

Sung-Yoon Lee, a US-based academic and theauthor of the only biography on Kim Yo-jong, believes she 'has the full confidence of Kim Jong-un' despite the 'very male-dominated, chauvinistic culture and society that is North Korea'.

According to Sung-Yoon Lee, Kim Yo-jong has become 'the most powerful woman not only in contemporary North Korea but perhaps all of Korean history'.

Sources used:

Al Jazeera: 'The Rise of North Korea’s Most Powerful Woman'