Demotion of Kim Jong-un's sister

Kim Yo-jong (in white circle, 4th row, top), the younger sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (C, front), visits the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun in Pyongyang on Jan. 12, 2021, in this combination of photos released by the North's official Korean Central News Agency. On Jan. 1, however, Yo-jong (in white circle, bottom) stood in the second row at the palace, where the embalmed bodies of the country's two former leaders -- Kim Jong-un's grandfather and the founder of the North Korean government Kim Il-sung and his father Kim Jong-il -- lie in state. Yo-jong has been demoted to vice department director of the ruling Workers Party's Central Committee from the committee's first vice department director and has not been listed as a member nor as an alternate member of the party's politburo. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap) (END)