Pyongyang leader Kim Jong Un's sister has been entrusted with supervising the daughter of Megumi Yokota, a Japanese national abducted to North Korea in 1977, according to the head of a group supporting families of South Koreans abducted by North Korean agents.

Choi Seong Ryong said he has received information from a source in North Korea that Kim's younger sister, Kim Yeo Jong, has been in charge of protecting and managing the affairs of Kim Eun Gyong (Hye Gyong), 24, since Kim came to power after the death of his father, Kim Jong Il, last December.

Choi said North Korea apparently intends to play Yokota's daughter as a "card" in future negotiations with Japan.

North Korea admitted in 2002 to having abducted Yokota from Niigata Prefecture at age 13 and kidnapping 12 other Japanese in the 1970s and 1980s. It claims she killed herself in 1994 while being treated for depression, but her family and the Japanese government dispute that assertion.

Last June, Choi said he received information that she actually died in 2004.

In 2006, he revealed that Yokota had been married to Kim Young Nam, a South Korean abducted by the North. The two married in 1986 and Kim Eun Gyong was born the following year. Based on DNA tests, the Japanese government has concluded that Kim Young Nam is most likely her father.

But government sources said they cannot confirm the accuracy of Choi's latest information regarding Yokota's daughter.

According to sources, Kim Eun Gyong and Kim Yeo Jong are said to be working together at jobs related to the ruling Workers' Party of Korea.

Choi had earlier provided information that Kim Eun Gyong lives under watch in the same area where two daughters of Shin Sook Ja, a 69-year-old high-profile South Korean captive, are also living under strict state surveillance.