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PoliticsNorth Korea

The Red Princess - North Korea’s Most Powerful Woman

November 7, 2023

She’s probably the most powerful woman in North Korea: Kim Yo Jong, the dictator’s younger sister.

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Dokumentation | Die rote Prinzessin
Image: Ampersand

She’s viewed as an emotionless and shrewd strategist for her brother, the North Korean ruler Kim Jong Un. But just who is the "Red Princess"?

Dokumentation | Die rote Prinzessin
Image: Ampersand

Kim Jong Un’s rise began in 2011 when their father, the North Korean leader Kim Jong Il died at the age of 69. His death triggered emotional scenes including, at the funeral, that of a weeping woman who captured the attention of her country and the entire world: Kim Yo Jong.

 

 

Dokumentation | Die rote Prinzessin
Image: Ampersand

 

This was Kim Yo Jong’s first official appearance alongside her brother Kim Jong Un, the new Supreme Leader of North Korea. Within a decade, Kim Yo Jong became the second highest ranking person in the Pyongyang regime and thereby her brother’s potential successor.

 

 

Dokumentation | Die rote Prinzessin
Image: Ampersand

Kim Yo Jong holds a multifaceted political role: on the one hand, she knows where and when to deploy her charm -- such as on a visit to South Korea in 2018. But she also issues warnings against the "imperialists” of Seoul and Washington. The documentary examines the personality and the career of the "Red Princess”. It also takes a current look behind the scenes of this totalitarian regime. The nuclear power is mired in a crisis that originated at the outset of the Cold War.

 

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SAT 25.11.2023 – 11:03 UTC
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