Believed to be in her early 30s, Kim Yo Jong is the only close relative of the North Korean leader to play a public role in politics.
During the 2018-2019 flurry of international diplomacy, Kim Yo Jong garnered global attention by leading a delegation to the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea. Later, she was often seen dashing about to make sure everything went well for her older brother, including holding an ashtray for him at a train station on his way to a summit with U.S. President Donald Trump in Vietnam.
But this year, Kim has taken on a more public policy role, cementing her status as an influential political player in her own right.
"Prior to this, Kim Yo Jong was portrayed in state media as Kim Jong Un's sister, his protocol officer, or one of his accompanying officials," said Rachel Minyoung Lee, a former North Korea open source intelligence analyst in the U.S. government. "Now, North Koreans know for sure there is more to her than that."
Kim has worked behind the scenes in North Korea's propaganda agencies, a role that led the United States to add her to a list of sanctioned senior officials in 2017 because of human rights abuses and censorship.