Kim Yo Jong draws attention with unusual leadership move, visits border fortification site with party and government leaders

[Financial News] Kim Yo Jong, director of the Workers’ Party’s General Affairs Department, visited a border fortification construction site in North Korea with party and military leaders.
Kim has until now stayed in the shadow of her elder brother, North Korean State Affairs Commission Chairman Kim Jong Un, but her stepping directly into the foreground this time is considered unusual. The move drew even more attention because it was a bold step by Kim amid rumors that Chairman Kim was experiencing health problems.
Korean Central News Agency reported on the 21st that Kim, Pak Jong Chon, an adviser to the Ministry of National Defence, Ri Il Hwan, a secretary of the Workers’ Party Central Committee, and key commanders of the General Staff of the Korean People’s Army visited an area near the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) on the 20th.
With a corresponding move by the South Korean military against North Korea looming after a North Korean military land mine exploded recently south of the Military Demarcation Line (MDL), the visit appears to have been intended as a countermeasure.
Kim said, “Our military leadership must make that gang of thugs realize that our new firepower units have taken up firing positions.” She added, emphasizing, “The head of state (Workers’ Party General Secretary Kim Jong Un) ordered that there must not be even an inch of concession in exercising territorial sovereignty, and that the border with hostile states be made the most permanent line.”
Pak said that what the South Korean military claims is our soldiers’ “border crossing” is “a deliberate and calculated far-fetched claim aimed at shifting responsibility for the worsening situation onto us in pursuit of ulterior motives,” and said the border must be made into a solid fortress.
He also called for an immediate counterattack, saying, “If the enemy, after issuing warning broadcasts and firing warning shots, goes on to commit provocations that actually threaten the safety of our soldiers, we must never tolerate them and must immediately counterattack.”
Following an incident on the 21st of last month in which three South Korean service members were injured by mines planted by North Korea south of the Military Demarcation Line in the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), the South Korean military urged North Korea to halt what it called its “border fortification” work.




[email protected] Kim Gyeong-su Reporter