Victoria Borodinova via pixabay

Taking control of a country is easy, but keeping control of a country is another story. For Kim Jong Un’s family, the motto has been to “keep it in the family” when in regards to the dictatorship control over North Korea. Since the end of World War 2 in 1948, the Kim family has held a tight grip on North Korea and it seems that they won’t be letting go anytime soon, especially now that Kim Jong Un just replaced his aunt, Kim Kyong Hui, with his younger, trusted sister, Kim Yo Jong.

Last Saturday at the 20th anniversary of Kim Jong Il’s acceptance of the title of general secretary of the ruling Worker’s Party of Korea in Pyongyang, Kim Jong Un promoted Kim Yo Jong to one of the highest positions within the Korean government: Vice-President of the Workers Party Politburo.

At the young age of 30, Kim Yo Jong has become one of the country’s top decision-making bodies. With her newfound position, she is responsible for conducting the Politburo’s activities and will be able to take part in policy debates. This responsibility includes conducting military affairs, as well as deciding on important issues between the two Central Committee houses.

Before her rise in status, Kim Yo Jong had not received much recognition within North Korea and was rarely seen with Kim Jong Un. After the death of their father in March of 2011 was when she started to make more frequent appearances alongside Kim Jong Un, following her older brother to “field guidance trips” and other public events. In 2014, Kim Yo Jong was given the small role of vice-director of the party’s propaganda and agitation department where she managed all of Kim Jong Un’s public appearances, including his itineraries and logistics, as well as act as a political adviser.

Although she has been positioned alongside Kim Jong Un’s wife, Ri Sol-Ju, as Kim Jong Un’s close advisor, she is still in the red-zone. Throughout Kim Jong Un’s journey towards creating a more “unified” North Korea, he has initiated a series of purges estimated to have affected 140 senior military and government officials. With one wrong move, Kim Yo Jong could be taken out in an instant.

The United States has yet to see her full use of power, but some predict that as tensions rise between the US and North Korea, her power shall be directly shown within Kim Jong Un’s next moves.