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Agence France-Presse

The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has been given a promotion in the ruling party structure during a rare party congress, state media reported Tuesday.
The Workers’ Party Central Committee on Monday named Kim Yo-jong – previously a deputy department director – as a full department director, Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.
Thousands of party elites have packed the capital for a once-in-five-years summit of the ruling Workers’ Party, a gathering that directs state efforts on everything from diplomacy to war planning.
The congress offers a rare glimpse into the political workings of reclusive North Korea, and is widely seen as a forum for Kim to flex his grip on power.

Kim Yo-jong has long been among her brother’s closest lieutenants, and one of the most influential women in the isolated regime.
Born in the late 1980s, according to the South Korean government, she is one of three children born to Kim’s father and predecessor, Kim Jong-il, and his third known partner, former dancer Ko Yong-hui.
She was educated in Switzerland alongside her brother and rose rapidly up the ranks once he inherited power after their father’s death in 2011.
In 2018, she visited South Korea for the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, during a period of inter-Korean rapprochement.
Pyongyang also frequently uses her name to issue statements outlining its positions or criticising the South and the US.
Later in the days-long congress, Kim Jong-un is expected to unveil the next phase in North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme.


The country’s nuclear arsenal has been transformed under Kim from a source of mild global concern to something treated as a genuine threat.
It is just the ninth time the Workers’ Party congress has convened under North Korea’s decades-spanning Kim rule.
Particular attention will also be placed on the whereabouts of Kim’s teenage daughter Ju-ae, who has emerged as North Korea’s heir apparent, according to Seoul’s national intelligence service.
At the previous congress five years ago, Kim declared that the United States was his nation’s “biggest enemy”.
There is keen interest in whether Kim might use the congress to soften this stance, or double down.
US President Donald Trump stepped up his courtship of Kim during a tour of Asia last year, saying he was “100 per cent” open to a meeting.
Kim has so far largely shunned efforts to resume top-level diplomatic dialogue.


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North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and his daughter Ju-ae inspect a newly completed music shop in the Hwasong area of Pyongyang on Wednesday. Photo: KCNA/KNS/AFP

Kim Jong-un (centre) presides over the opening of the ninth congress of the Workers’ Party of Korea in Pyongyang, North Korea, on Friday. Photo: KCNA/Reuters

Rocket launchers seen in Pyongyang on Thursday at a ceremony held before the opening of the ruling party congress. Photo: KCNA/EPA

US President Donald Trump with North Korea’s Kim Jong-un talk before a meeting in the demilitarised zone in 2019. Photo: AFP

Kim Jong-un and his daughter Ju-ae inspect a newly completed music shop in the Hwasong area of Pyongyang on Wednesday. Photo: KCNA/KNS/AFP

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North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump after their first meeting in Hanoi, Vietnam, on February 28, 2019. Photo: AP

South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the State Department in Washington on Tuesday. Photo: Getty Images via AFP

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, accompanied by his daughter Kim Ju-ae, directs a test of a large-calibre multiple-rocket launch system, in an unknown location on January 27. Photo: KCNA via Reuters

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (centre) during the party congress in Pyongyang in 2021. Photo by STR / KCNA via KNS / AFP

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North Korean leader Kim Jong-un reviews a guard of honour as he visits the Ministry of National Defence in Pyongyang on Sunday. Photo: KCNA/AFP

Kim Jong-un at the Ministry of National Defence on Sunday. Photo: KCNA/AFP

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North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (centre, right) and his daughter, Kim Ju-ae, touring Saeppyol Street, a new housing district in Pyongyang dedicated to the families of fallen soldiers, on Sunday. Photo; EPA/KCNA

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (right) and his daughter, Kim Ju-ae (second from right), greeting bereaved family members during the opening ceremony of Saeppyol Street on Sunday. Photo: EPA/KCNA

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (centre) and his daughter Ju-ae (back, left) with the families of fallen soldiers moving into their homes on Saeppyol Street in Pyongyang on Sunday. Photo: KCNA via KNS / AFP

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un attends a completion ceremony of Saeppyol Street in Pyongyang on Sunday. Photo: KCNA/Korea News Service via AP

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Japanese Prime Minister Sanae speaks at a Tokyo rally in November 2025 urging North Korea to return abductees. Photo: Kyodo

Kim Jong-un speaks at a meeting of the Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea in Pyongyang, North Korea in December 2025. The North Korean leader may negotiate abductee returns. Photo: EPA/KCNA 

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Kim Yo-jong, one of her brother’s closest lieutenants, has been promoted to full department director at the Workers’ Party congress


Kim Yo-jong, one of her brother’s closest lieutenants, has been promoted to full department director at the Workers’ Party congress.


North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s sister takes major step up party rungs

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Kim Yo-jong, one of her brother’s closest lieutenants, has been promoted to full department director at the Workers’ Party congress

Kim Yo-jong, one of her brother’s closest lieutenants, has been promoted to full department director at the Workers’ Party congress