Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily Beast
Little sister Kim Yo Jong appears to have taken over many of Kim Jong Un’s duties with the North Korean leader reportedly giving up on his diet, wallowing deep into alcoholism and unable to rule effectively.
Yo Jong, who’s often spoken for her big brother in the past, has again taken up the mantle and is projecting the image of the most powerful member of the ruling dynasty while Jong Un pigs out on expensive imported cheeses, drinks night and day and chain-smokes foreign cigarettes, according to intelligence reports
Although Jong Un holds on to his titles of general secretary of the ruling party, president of state affairs and, of course, “supreme leader,” Yo Jong has resumed her role as the voice of authority in a country mired in poverty, hunger, and disease.