There has been no dislocation of the political narrative on either side of the Demilitarized Zone. While South Korea, acutely affected by the coronavirus, has gone ahead with its “epidemicera parliamentary election”, the North under the leadership of Kim Jong-un has effected a major reshuffle of its political hierarchy.
We do not know if the hermit kingdom is also battling the virus; it is much too closeted to share its data on public health. Yet we do know that however isolated, the omnipotent President Kim has reinstated his powerful younger sister to a key decision-making entity.
Kim Yo-jong, who was for many years one of her brother’s closest advisers, has now been elevated to the post of an “alternate member” of the central committee’s Politburo as part of a reshuffle of key officials. It is a measure of the importance of the reshuffle that the meeting to decide on the appointment was presided over by Kim Jong-un.
She is believed to have been removed from the position last year after the collapse of the second summit between her brother and President Donald Trump in Hanoi. The rehabilitation is part of Kim Yo-jong’s recent rise within the North’s hierarchy.
It bears recall that she had acted as her brother’s envoy to South Korea at the time of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in 2018, which ushered in a rapid diplomatic rapprochement on the divided peninsula. Though Seoul has brokered talks between Kim and Trump, there has been no forward movement at the high table, whether in Singapore or Hanoi.
Rather, missiles were test-fired only very recently, and at a terribly crucial juncture for America, by far the nation worst afflicted by the virus. Last month, she began issuing statements of direct political significance under her own name, thus highlighting her central role in the North’s political ranking.
Her statements followed her appointment as first vicedepartment director of the central committee of the ruling Workers’ party, indeed her main role in the totalitarian state. The other critical appointment was that of Ri Son-gwon, who was named North Korea’s top diplomat in January. He too has been elected as an “alternate member” of the Politburo alongside Kim’s sister.
Altogether, Kim has reinforced his iron grip over his nuclear armed country. The fact that the North went ahead with the meeting of the Supreme People’s Assembly (SPA) arguably points to the country’s confidence in managing the crisis should a health emergency arise. This is further reaffirmed by the fact that the participants at so crucial a meeting were without face masks. As Donald Trump stutters, Kim Jong-un has unmasked his authority.