`Princess` surnamed Kim

Kim Yo Jong, blue shirt, accompanied by her brother Kim Jong-un, visited the animation studio in Pyongyang.

Kim Yo-jong, 27 years old, younger sister of leader Kim Jong-un, was appointed to a senior position in the ruling Workers’ Party on November 27, Reuters reported, citing information from the North Korean state news agency.

Ms. Kim was introduced as vice chairwoman of a committee of the Central Standing Committee, in charge of delivering ideological messages through propaganda, art and culture.

A group of people who fled North Korea also said that Ms. Kim could reach higher positions in the state apparatus during Mr. Kim Jong-un’s absence for more than a month.

Kim Yo-jong’s power is comparable to that of a prime minister, South Korea’s Joong Ang Ilbo newspaper in April quoted an anonymous intelligence source as saying.

North Korean media has regularly reported news and images of Ms. Kim since Mr. Kim Jong-un came to power at the end of 2011, after the death of his father, the late leader Kim Jong-il.

In 2012, Mr. Kim attended the opening ceremony of an amusement park in Pyongyang, and Ms. Kim Yo-jong was seen moving between different positions in the ranks of party cadres and generals to arrange and direct the work.

Ms. Kim has since appeared many more times alongside her brother, sometimes laughing at concerts, sometimes personally presenting awards to fighter pilots.

The reality is that women in North Korea rarely have the opportunity to hold high positions in the government or military.

`Most of the people with the title of superior have to listen to her,` said Michael Madden, an expert on North Korea’s leadership system.

According to Mashable news site, Kim Yo-jong is the youngest child of the late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il and his wife, Ko Yong-hui.

In 1996, Yo-jong went to Berne, Switzerland, lived with her brothers and attended elementary school here under the name `Kim Yo’ng-sun`.

In the memoir of Kenji Fujimoto, who spent 13 years as a sushi chef for the late leader Kim Jong-il, he calls Yong-hui `princess` and Jong-un `prince`.

Mysterious disappearance

Mrs. Kim Kyong-hui, aunt of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

When Mr. Kim Jong-il ran the country, his sister, Mrs. Kim Kyong-hui, also held many high positions in the government and military, often present at important ceremonies and state meetings.

According to the Washington Post, Kim Kyong-hui was once the most prominent female figure in North Korea.

The most recent revelation from writer Jonathan Cheng in the Wall Street Journal said that Mrs. Kim may have passed away nearly a year ago.

This may explain why she did not appear publicly for nearly a year and why her image was edited and deleted from a documentary tape released in April. `They would never do that.

However, observers say that so far everything is still just speculation, nothing is certain about her fate.