Kim Yo-jong, deputy department director of the Workers' Party of Korea, has been promoted to department director.
According to the Korean Central News Agency on January 24, the First Plenary Meeting of the Ninth Central Committee of the Workers' Party was held on January 23. At the meeting, Kim Yo-jong, the younger sister of Chairman Kim Jong-un, was promoted from deputy department director to department director. It has not yet been confirmed which specialized department she will head.
Her party rank had been demoted from alternate member of the Political Bureau to Central Committee member at the Eighth Party Congress in January 2021, but she has now been reinstated as an alternate member of the Political Bureau. However, experts say it is meaningless to assess her ranking given her status as a member of the "Paektu bloodline."
The Political Bureau Presidium, the party's highest decision-making body, now includes Kim Jae-ryong and Ri Il-hwan alongside Chairman Kim Jong-un, former Premier Pak Thae-song, and former Party Organization Secretary Cho Yong-won.
The news agency reported that the plenary session also discussed revisions to the Party Central Committee's slogan collection and the party charter commentary. North Korea adopted a resolution on party charter amendments the previous day but has not disclosed whether the "hostile two-state" designation for South Korea was formally codified.
Although the Ninth Party Congress has continued for five days, North Korea has yet to deliver any significant foreign policy message. At the fifth day of proceedings on January 23, Chairman Kim Jong-un filled most of his approximately 5,000-character "conclusion" speech with domestic policy messages.