Kim Kyong Hui, younger sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, poses with the newly elected members of the central leadership body of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) and the participants in the WPK Conference, at the plaza of the Kumsusan Memorial Palace in Pyongyang in this picture released by the North's KCNA news agency September 30, 2010.
Kim Jong Il’s only sister, known to be a cantankerous alcoholic in her 60s, was promoted alongside Kim Jong Un in 2010 to the rank of a four-star general, a top officer in the North Korean military. The move was seen as a measure to consolidate power and influence among the Kims, at a time when the heir apparent — Jong Un — seemed unready and weak. Depending on what account you listen to, it was also either a way of promoting Kyong Hui’s husband, the influential general Chang Sung Taek is, or mitigating against his own direct influence.