North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's aunt appears after 6 years
Kim Kyong-hui, aunt of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, sits with North Korean leaders during the New Year celebration.
North Korean state media today published photos showing Kim Kyong-hui sitting near leader Kim Jong-un, watching a performance celebrating Lunar New Year in Pyongyang.
It was her first public appearance since 2013, after her husband, Jang Song-thaek, was executed later that year. Jang, considered the second most powerful man in North Korea, was convicted of multiple crimes, including treason and corruption. Kim Kyong-hui and her husband were once the power couple in North Korean politics, second only to Kim Jong-un, when he first took power in late 2011.
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Kim Kyong-hui, second from right, and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, second from left, at a concert on January 25 in Pyongyang. Photo:Yonhap. |
State media named Kim Kyong-hui after Choe Ryong-hae, North Korea's second-in-command. Choe, vice chairman of the State Affairs Commission, was approved as president of the Supreme People's Assembly in April 2019.
"That shows that Kim Kyong-hui is still in high demand, or at least has influence behind the scenes," said Oliver Hotham, senior editor of NK News, a Seoul-based North Korea information monitoring organization.
According to Hotham, many North Korea observers believe that Kim Kyong-hui went into exile or was executed after her husband's death. So her appearance at the leader's side after 6 years is really a surprise. It is possible that Ms. Kim has been given an important new position, as an economic or political advisor to Kim Jong-un.
Kim Jong-un is facing a complicated internal and international situation, as nuclear negotiations with the US stall and international economic sanctions continue to be tightened.
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