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| China-Japan-Koreas |
| Kimmie's only sister seen to have growing power |
| 2010-02-18 |
| SEOUL, Feb. 17 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's only sister appears to be assuming increasingly strong political power in the North's regime, Seoul's Unification Ministry said Wednesday, releasing the latest diagram of the communist state's power structure. The ministry included Kim Kyong-hui, 64, the younger sister of leader Kim, in the 2010 diagram of the North's power structure, reinforcing views that the family line enjoys an increasing political clout in the secretive country. The diagram, updated annually by the Unification Ministry, offers a glimpse into changes in the North Korean elite power system, which runs a massive personality cult built around the 68-year-old Kim and his family. The ministry said the younger Kim and her organization were newly added to the diagram after she returned to the public spotlight in June last year for the first time in nearly six years. "She has been very active in accompanying her brother in field inspections in recent months. It's quite a change considering she had been out of the public view since September 2003," a ministry official said, declining to be named. Since the mid-1980s, the younger Kim is believed to have headed an organ under the ruling Workers' Party that oversaw the country's light industries. Four years younger than Kim Jong-il, she is married to Jang Song-thaek, a member of the National Defense Commission, the highest decision-making body in Pyongyang. Her return to the public eye as a top industrial official reflects Pyongyang's resolve to resuscitate its economy and pave the ground for a family power succession, another official said. South Korean intelligence officials say Kim has increasingly relied on his family to exercise his power after he survived a stroke in the summer of 2008. They also say economic revitalization would make easy Kim Jong-il's own father-to-son power succession as he apparently tries to hand the reigns to his third son, Jong-un. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #4 Czarinas in Russia, too. |
| Posted by: Cromosh Threatle9076 2010-02-18 23:13 |
| #3 And the women who become Empress seem to be singularly vicious rulers, at least historically in Asia. Although a few have been both vicious and incompetent, always a fun mix for their neighbors. |
| Posted by: Shieldwolf 2010-02-18 20:56 |
| #2 These male-dominated cultures always seem to have exceptions for females from the members of the ruling family. Perfect example, IMHO: late 19th century China. |
| Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain 2010-02-18 11:18 |
| #1 I can't see Korea (North or South) giving any authority to a female. It runs counter to their male dominated culture. |
| Posted by: Cyber Sarge 2010-02-18 09:59 |