Is NK leader’s sister coming out?

By Kim Young-jin

Interest in the mysterious sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has spiked in recent days after rumors circulated that she would attend a key ruling party meeting slated for Wednesday.

The Daily NK, a website focused on the North, recently quoted a source in Seoul as saying Kim’s younger sister Yo-jong had been named as a delegate to the rare conference of the Workers’ Party, which is being held ahead of the landmark 100th anniversary of the birth of the country’s late founder Kim Il-sung.

The siblings are the children of late leader Kim Jong-il and his consort, Japanese born-dancer Ko Yong-hui as is their older brother, Jong-chul. While Yo-jong is thought to have been born around 1987, little else is known of her.

The source told the website that Kim was unanimously selected as a party delegate by a preparatory committee before approval by the Party Central Committee.

Analysts say it would be natural for a sibling of the leader to be involved in political affairs given that the North’s system relies heavily on the ruling Kim family. Kim Jong-il’s sister, Kim Kyong-hui, long served as his close aid and is doing the same for the current leader.

Speculation has long circled on the up-and-coming generation of the ruling family. A gaunt woman standing behind Kim Jong-un during his father’s funeral was speculated to be either Yo-jong or the new leader’s wife.

She was also speculated to have been present when Jong-chul was spotted by a South Korean television crew at an Eric Clapton concert in Singapore last year.

Analysts say the regime will use the conference to give Kim additional titles such as chairman of the Central Military Commission or general secretary of the party to consolidate his power. It is also expected to convey the message that the leader will usher in the arrival of a “prosperous” era while sticking to the policies laid out by his father.

In the most recent party conference in September 2010, the North’s largest political gathering in 44 years, Kim Jong-un emerged as heir apparent after being elevated to vice chairman of the party’s Central Military Commission and four-star general status.