Kim Jong-un’s sister
Kim Yo-Jong accompanied her brother to the historic summit in
Singapore, but in separate flights amid security concerns by the secretive regime, according to multiple reports.
Kim Yo Jong, believed to be 30 and one of the
North Korean leader’s closest confidants, reportedly arrived at Singapore’s Changi Airport about an hour after the despot’s Chinese charter plane touched down. Kim traveled with other top-ranking North Korean members — another layer of security for the regime’s first family.
“North Korea has its own royal lineage — the Kim family — and so it is natural that Kim Yo Jong traveled to Singapore separately from her brother,” Christopher Green, a North Korea researcher and Sino-NK editor, told NK News on Monday.
Kim’s sister gained notoriety during the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea in February, where she met with South Korean President Moon Jae-in. She reportedly gave birth to her second child in May, though no further details were released, Chosun Ilbo reported.
Kim Jong Un departed Pyongyang Sunday in an Air China Boeing 747 plane for a 10-hour flight to Singapore. Two other aircrafts, one carrying several “essential” items for Kim such as a bullet-proof limousine and portable toilet, also departed within the same hour as the one carrying Kim.
The despot took a break from official government business on Monday to take a mini tour with Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, his sister and other top deputies. Kim also stopped for a brief moment to take a selfie with Balakrishnan and Education Minister Ong Ye Kung.
Kim and Trump are planning to meet one-on-one on Tuesday for the first ever summit between a sitting American president and a North Korean leader. They will be joined only by translators and will spend a couple of hours before admitting their close advisers to the meeting.