Kim makes it a family affair as little sister ‘elected’ to parliament

Kim Jong-un’s younger sister and trusted confidante has been “elected” to North Korea’s rubberstamp parliament.

Kim Yo-jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Hanoi. Picture: AP.

Kim Jong-un’s younger sister and trusted confidante has been “elected” to North Korea’s rubberstamp parliament, while the leader himself was absent from the ballot for the first time.

Kim Yo-jong, 30, has played an increasingly prominent role in state business over the past few years, including attending her brother’s summit meetings with Donald Trump and other leaders.

Her name was included in a list of hundreds of “deputies” elected to the 14th Supreme People’s ­Assembly in Sunday’s election.

The parliamentary elections, held every five years, are used by Pyongyang to legitimise its rule.

They are not a real contest because ballot papers contain only one approved candidate for each of the 687 constituencies.

State media claimed the turnout was 99.99 per cent of eligible voters, an assertion that cannot be independently verified.

Due to the lack of rival candidates, the contender in each constituency was said to have won with “100 per cent” support.

 

The election of Ms Kim suggests her brother is consolidating his circle of most trusted aides.

Apart from Ms Kim, those elected include North Korea’s Foreign Minister, Ri Yong-ho, and the Vice-Foreign Minister involved in nuclear-related negotiations with the US, Choe Son-hui.

South Korean analysts said Kim’s exclusion from the parliamentary body was “puzzling”.

“While it’s hard to say conclusively, Kim could have calculated it would make the country look more like a normal state if he didn’t carry the extra title of ‘deputy’ to the legislature when he already holds the country’s highest rank,” said Lim Eul-chul, a senior professor of North Korean studies at Kyungnam University in South Korea.

It is thought to be the first time a North Korean leader has not concurrently held a parliamentary seat — in contrast to the practice followed by Kim’s grandfather, Kim Il-sung, and his father, Kim Jong-il. The significance of Kim’s decision is unclear, although it is extremely unlikely to lead to any change in the power he wields.

He remains chairman of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea and chairman of the North Korean State Affairs Commission.

Ms Kim has become increasingly influential within his trusted circle. In 2017 she secured a voice in policy debates as an alternate member of the powerful politburo.

Then, in February last year, she was trusted to travel to the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics opening ceremony in South Korea, when she was pictured sitting near a stony-faced US Vice-President Mike Pence.

Like her dictator brother, Ms Kim is said to have spent time abroad studying in Switzerland.

They were born to the same mother, unlike older estranged half-brother Kim Jong-nam, who was killed in an apparent nerve agent attack in 2017.

The Times