Kim Jong-un's Younger Sister Not Included In The New Party Politburo List, Various Signals Surfaced

Kim Jong-un (Sumber: Commons Wikimedia)

JAKARTA - The name of the sister of Supreme Leader of North Korea (North Korea) Kim Jong-un, Kim Yo-jong, has disappeared from the new list of powerful Labor Party politburo. This was conveyed directly by the North Korean state media, KCNA.

The news indicates mixed signals about his status after years of increasing North Korean influence. Quoting Reuters, Monday, January 11, the Labor Party held an election on Sunday, January 10, 2021 for the Central Committee during the ongoing congress.

This Congress maps out the diplomatic, military and economic policy objectives for the next five years. Even so, Kim Yo-jong remains a member of the Central Committee, but he is not on the politburo list.

This breaks the broad estimates of North Korean observers. Kim Yo-jong's absence from the politburo list comes days after Kim Yo-jong took the leadership podium for the first time with 38 other executives when the congress started.

Its influence has grown dramatically in recent years. He was initially the personal secretary of young leaders and later a special envoy to South Korea (South Korea) and deputy director of major party departments. This position is in charge of overseeing personnel and organizational matters.

In 2017, Kim Yo-jong became the only woman in patriarchal North Korea to join an exclusive politburo. Earlier his aunt, Kim Kyong-hui, and South Korean intelligence services in August 2020 said that Kim Yo-jong served as "de facto deputy commando."

"It is too early to draw any conclusions about his status, because he is still a member of the Central Committee and it is possible that he has taken other important positions," said Lim Eul-chul, professor of North Korean studies at Kyungnam University, Seoul.

In addition, the committee selected Kim Jong-un as General Secretary of the Labor Party, taking over the title from his late father. It was a move that appeared largely symbolic and aimed to further strengthen his power. Congress also "fully approved" a proposal to promote Kim Jong-un to the position.

Kim Jong-un has held near absolute power in dynastically-ruled North Korea since the death of his father, Kim Jong-il in 2011. In 2012, the Labor Party described Kim Jong-il as "the eternal secretary general" and Kim Jong-un "the secretary. the first "at the conference.

"Kim Jong-un's takeover shows his belief that he has now officially joined the ranks of his father and grandfather," said Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the North Korean Studies University in Seoul.

"It also demonstrates its strategic intention to centralize the party system on it and strengthen the one man rule."

The election also highlighted the rise of Jo Yong-won, who was recently appointed to the five-strong politburo presidium and the party's formidable Central Military Commission. Choe Son-hui, the deputy secretary of state who was instrumental in preparing for the second failed meeting with US President Donald Trump in 2019, was demoted.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in vowed to help engineer a breakthrough in denuclearization talks that stalled as United States President-elect Joe Biden prepared to take office.

Kim Jong-un has said he will expand diplomacy, but will also continue to develop weapons including the 'multi-warhead' intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). He also called the US "our greatest enemy."

The South Korean military said it had detected signs of North Korea holding a military parade on the evening of Sunday January 10 to mark the congress. In October 2020, North Korea launched a new ICBM on 11-axle transport vehicles at a pre-dawn parade.