Siblings of North Korean leaders have been more likely to disappear than be extolled on the front pages of state media. That is, until Kim Yo Jong emerged as the face of a new pressure campaign against South Korea.
On Saturday, Kim Jong Un’s younger sister issued an unusual statement saying that it was "high time” to break ties with South Korea. She said that the next action against the "enemy” would come from the army, raising memories of a decade ago, when North Korea shelled a South Korean island, killing four, and was suspected of torpedoing the South Korean warship, killing 46 sailors.
The decision to elevate Kim Yo Jong, who the U.S. Treasury Department says is 30, lets the outside world know she’s the favorite to continue the family bloodline should anything happen to her brother. The move also reminds South Korea that the Kim regime sees inter-Korean relations as a personal matter, warning President Moon Jae-in of dire consequences it he doesn’t help ease sanctions battering its economy.