State media revealed that Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, has been promoted within the hierarchy of the ruling Workers' Party. Kim Yo Jong has long been close to her brother and one of the most influential women in North Korea's power circles.

Published on: 02/24/2026 - 04:16 Last updated: 02/24/2026 - 08:54

On Tuesday, official media in North Korea announced the promotion of the influential sister of leader Kim Jong Un to the hierarchy of the ruling party, during the Workers' Party conference, which is held once every five years in Pyongyang.

According to the Korean Central News Agency, the party's Central Committee decided on Monday to appoint Kim Yo Jong, who previously held the position of deputy director of the administration, to the position of director, in a move that reflects her growing role within the narrow circle surrounding the leader.

The capital, Pyongyang, witnessed the influx of thousands of party elites to attend this party conference, which determines the state’s directions in several areas, from diplomacy and foreign relations to military planning and war, and is seen as the highest platform for affirming the regime’s priorities.

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This party meeting is a rare opportunity to observe the mechanisms of political work in North Korea, which is very closed, and is widely considered an occasion for Kim Jong Un to review his grip on power and arrange the positions of the elite around him.

Kim Yo Jong is considered one of her brother's closest aides and one of the most influential women in the regime, as South Korean officials point out that she is one of three children of the late leader Kim Jong Il from his third partner, the former dancer Ko Yong Hui. She was born in the late 1980s and received her education in Switzerland with her brother before quickly rising through the ranks after the transfer of power to him in 2011.

It is expected that Kim Jong Un will take advantage of the proceedings of this conference, which extends over several days, to reveal the next stage of North Korea's nuclear weapons program, in an additional indication of the nature of the regime's strategic directions in the next stage.

France 24/AFP

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