Government confirms basic facts on N. Korea leadership at last

Kim Yo-jong walks in front of President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un during the Moon-Kim summit in Pyongyang i in September. / Korea Times file

By Yi Whan-woo

Lack of access to North Korea means it often takes years for Seoul to confirm simple facts concerning the leadership, such as dates of birth or the reshuffle of top officials.

The Ministry of Unification only confirmed this week that Kim Yo-jong, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's younger sister, was born in 1988. It did not specify exactly when she was born.

She emerged rapidly on the political scene after her brother took power in December 2011, but the ministry had estimated her year of birth as 1987, 1988 or 1989.

In its 2019 edition of the encyclopedia on key North Korean figures, the ministry also confirmed Han Kwang-sang, a military official who was rumored to have been purged, serves as Kim Jong-un's treasurer.

"We've taken various sources into account before coming up with the latest encyclopedia," a ministry official said. "Regarding Kim Yo-jong, we can assure everyone that she is 30 years old."

The ministry is believed to be convinced about Kim, following inter-Korean exchanges this year that allowed a better chance to collect information on the North Korean leadership, according to sources familiar with the matter.

The finding, however, is different from the U.S. Department of Treasury's in 2017, when it blacklisted her for her role on human rights abuses. The treasury department then claimed Kim was born on Sept. 26, 1989.

Regarding Han, the ministry said he has returned as director of the ruling Workers' Party's finance accounting department.

The ministry previously said the post was occupied by Kim Yong-su.

Han was promoted in 2013 to director of the party's finance accounting department. But he was not seen for months from March 2015, fueling speculation he might have been purged over corruption allegations.

He then appeared at the April 27 summit between Kim and President Moon Jae-in and also the groundbreaking Pyongyang-Washington summit on June 12.

"He was confirmed to have returned to a party post recently," the ministry said.

It said that Hwang Pyong-so, former director of the general political bureau of North Korea's armed forces, now serves as first vice director of the party's organization guidance department. Hwang was once seen as Kim Jong-un's right-hand man.

The ministry confirmed Kim Song-ae, one of North Korea's founding leader Kim Il-sung's wives, died in 2014.

She was believed to have been born in 1924 or 1928. She held various party posts but disappeared from the political scene after stepson Kim Jong-il took power.