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North Korean leader's sister confirmed to serve as ruling party's general affairs department director

Published: 28 Feb. 2026, 11:05

Kim Yo-jong, left, takes aim with a rifle at a firing range on Feb. 27 in this photo carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency the following day. [YONHAP]

Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, was confirmed to have taken the post of director of the general affairs department of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), according to state media on Saturday.

She was promoted to a party department chief at the WPK's plenary meeting on Monday in the midst of the Ninth Congress of the WPK that concluded a weeklong run on Wednesday, but details of her official title were not disclosed at that time.

But the North's state media called her “director of the General Affairs Department of the WPK Central Committee” for the first time in its Saturday report, listing her as one of the major party cadres. It also mentioned military commanders who received a new type of sniper rifle from the North's leader as “special gifts.”

North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un, center, presents a new type of sniper rifle to major party and military officials as ″special gifts″ on Feb. 28 in this photo carried by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency the previous day. [YONHAP]

The North's leader met with major leading cadres and military commanding officers at the headquarters building of the WPK the previous day and gave a “new-generation” sniper rifle to each of them, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

Kim Yo-jong, formerly the vice director of the party's propaganda and agitation department, mostly issued messages toward South Korea and the United States. In particular, she issued sharp-tongued statements targeting Seoul amid strained inter-Korean ties.

With the new title, her authority within the party is widely expected to expand as she leads the department deemed to handle the WPK's internal operations and administrative affairs.

The KCNA said Jo Yong-won and Kim Jae-ryong, members of the presidium of the political bureau of the WPK central committee, along with members of the Central Military Commission and key military officers, were also presented rifles by the North's leader.

“These presents represent my appraisal of your extraordinary devotion for the country and the people and an expression of my absolute trust in you,” Kim Jong-un said, calling the sniper's rifle a “wonderful weapon.”

The North's leader also personally awarded weapon certificates to each of them and shot the rifle with the leading cadres at a firing range, the KCNA said.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's daughter Ju-ae takes aim at a target with a sniper rifle at a firing range on Feb. 27 in this photo carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency the following day. [YONHAP]

Meanwhile, photos carried by state media showed Kim Jong-un's daughter Kim Ju-ae attending the ceremony to present the rifles and participating in a shooting practice session.

In a rare move, the North's media disclosed a solo photo of her taking aim at a target and shooting a rifle.

Earlier this month, South Korea's spy agency said Kim Ju-ae may be positioned to succeed her father as state leader. The party congress had drawn attention over whether she would receive a formal title at the party event, but she only publicly appeared at a military parade on Wednesday night to mark the first party congress in five years.

Yonhap