Chair dance in North Korea: sister Kim Jong-un gets promoted

Kim Yo-jong, the younger sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, has joined the country’s main government body, state media reported. She was promoted and is now the only woman on the State Affairs Committee, which includes key policy makers.

Yo-jong was already one of the country’s main political faces and his brother’s main adviser. This appointment is his highest official position to date. Nonetheless, she was removed from the party list in January for unclear reasons. It is not known why this happened.

Last year, the South Korean Secret Service named her second after her brother. According to the same intelligence agency, she was responsible for maintaining ties with South Korea and the United States last year.

New faces in committee

Kim Jong-un recently adopted his committee. He either reinstated or retired nine members, including Pak Pong-ju, 82, who has been an architect of economic policy for the past decade. Kim said about this in early January that the had failed.

Ri Pyong-chol, the top military leader and the man behind the weapons program, was also killed. He is replaced by General Pak Jong-chon, who is responsible for developing new weapons. This week he oversaw a test of what North Korea says was the first hypersonic rake from the country.