Public appearance of North Korean leader’s sister dispels punishment rumors

Kim Yo-jong, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s younger sister, has appeared in public for the first time in nearly two months, dispelling speculation that she had been under probation over the breakdown of the second US-North Korea summit in Hanoi, Vietnam, in February.

According to the Korean Central News Agency, Workers’ Party of Korea First Vice Director Kim Yo-jong and Kim Jong-un attended a mass gymnastics and artist performance called “The Land of the People” at the May Day Stadium on Monday. 

 

She had last been seen in North Korean media coverage on April 12, when she took part in the Supreme People’s Assembly.

Her reappearance in state media’s coverage of the event dispelled rumors raised by a conservative South Korean newspaper on Friday that a number of high-ranking officials and envoys involved in preparing for the summit in February had been purged, or even executed, because their leader had left the meeting empty-handed.

Nuclear talks between Pyongyang and Washington have since been in a stalemate.

Chosun Ilbo reported that Kim Yong-chol -- the North Korean leader’s right-hand man who had served as the counterpart of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo -- had been sent to do hard labor at a re-education camp.

However, Kim Yong-chol appeared at a public event on Monday for the second consecutive day, at the gymnastics performance, following his attendance of a performance by the wives of military officers on Sunday.

Regarding the state-run KCNA report, a Unification Ministry official said Kim Yong-chol “appears to maintain his post as a vice chairman of the ruling party’s central committee.”

In April, Seoul’s spy agency said Kim Yong-chol had been removed from his post as head of the United Front Department, a major party agency.

The North’s special envoy to the US, Kim Hyok-chol -- whom Chosun Ilbo reported had been executed in March --has yet to appear in public.

On Tuesday, CNN reported that Kim Hyok-chol was alive and in state custody for investigation into his role in the failed summit, citing unnamed sources. 

Cheong Seong-chang, an analyst at the Sejong Institute, downplayed the possibility that Kim Hyok-chol had been executed, as it would be unfair for him to face the toughest punishment compared with Kim Yong-chul, who oversaw the denuclearization negotiations.

Cheong argued that no officials would be willing to take on the role of nuclear negotiator if the North Korean leader were to hold them responsible for the breakdown of talks and consequently send them to do forced labor, to political prison camps or to have them executed.

“If Kim has not given up on negotiations with the US, it is unlikely that he will impose such extreme punishment,” he said.

By Park Han-na (hnpark@heraldcorp.com)